Everything You Know
by Kit-cat99
Summary: Grace Turner's father traded her to Voldemort before she was born. Now she's trapped in hell until the most unlikely person offers her companionship. DracoOC
1. Prologue

**Everything You Know**

Summary: Grace Turner is a prisoner of lord Voldemort through a debt made between the dark lord and her father. The only constant in her live in the torture that Voldemort and a few of his inner circle followers cast upon her. So when she meets the young son of one of her tormenters it's only natural for her to be afraid. Without knowing the true reason why the dark lord has kept her alive, Grace finds herself leaning towards the only comfort offered to her as things turn from dark to black.

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter characters. They belong to their creator.

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**Prologue  
**(18 years ago)

Greg Turner, a greedy young man, stared at the person in front of him. Well…not exactly in front of him but she was just across the busy street. The woman of his dreams…the beautiful, charismatic Charlene Cahill. He watched her with her friends and he knew that he had to have her. This was why he was hiding in a shadowy alley and waiting impatiently. His foot tapped out the seconds. Each tap made the young man more and more impatient.

"Patience is a virtue Mr. Turner." A cold voice said from behind him. Greg went stiff and turned around. Standing behind him was a tall man with the face of a snake and a black cloak draped around him. "What do you want? I am a busy wizard and I have not the time for such foolishness."

"I want…need your help." Greg said, forcing himself to remain calm.

"And why should I…Lord Voldemort…help you?" The snake faced man asked, advancing on the other man.

"I can repay you…anything you want." Greg said.

"Anything?" Voldemort asked.

"Anything." Greg said firmly.

"And what if that anything just so happened to be something very dear and precious to you?" Voldemort asked.

"Name your price." Greg said.

"I know what it is you want." Voldemort said, gazing up at Charlene as the woman laughed. His gaze fell back on the young man in front of him. "You can have what you want…" Greg smiled triumphantly. "At the price of a child."

"A…child?" Greg asked, his smile fading.

"Not just any child…your child." Voldemort said.

"I have no child." Greg said.

"When you do." Voldemort said. "When you have a beautiful baby girl…she will be marked. And I will collect her when the time comes." His hand shot out and grasped Greg's forearm. The young man yelled and tried twisting away. Voldemort said a spell and the dark mark appeared, small but noticeable, on Greg's wrist. "When your child is born…and when you hold her…that mark will move to her."

"What if I don't have a girl?" Greg asked. Voldemort just smiled and vanished.

(17 years ago)

"Merlin's beard, what is happening in there?" Greg muttered, pausing from his pacing and looking at the door of the room his wife was currently trying to give birth in. He had proposed to Charlene after only two weeks of them being together and she, remarkably, accepted. Five months after that, they married and Charlene confessed to being pregnant. Greg didn't know what to say or how to react so he forced a smile and told her it was wonderful even though he was secretly terrified.

Now, almost an exact year after he had made the pact with Voldemort, Charlene was having difficulties birthing their child. Greg had been asked to leave the room as soon as he started looking nauseated and now he was pacing in front of the door, listening to his wife's screams of pain. His face as white as parchment and his heart racing.

"Please…not a girl. Anything but a girl." Greg muttered. Things were quiet for quite a few minutes and then there was crying from inside the room. Another few minutes passed and the door opened.

"Congratulations Mr. Turner. You have a beautiful baby girl." The Healer at the door said. Greg desperately kept the fear from his face and, yet again, forced a smile in its place.

"My wife?" He asked.

"She's fine." The healer said. "You may come see for yourself." Greg just nodded and went into the room.

"Darling, come look." Charlene said. Greg gulped as he stood next to the bed and looked down at the little girl in his wife's arms. All that fuss for such a tiny baby? "Would you like to hold her?"

"No!" Greg said, too quickly. Charlene looked at him with hurt eyes. "Uh…I mean…I would love to…but I must go to work soon and announce the magnificent news."

"Oh." Charlene said. "Do you have a name in mind?"

"None." Greg said.

"What about…Grace Abigail Turner?" Charlene asked. "Grace after my sister who died many years before, Abigail after your favourite aunt…"

"It's a good name." Greg said. "Now I must go. I'll be back later."

"Alright…" Charlene said. Greg left, hating himself for the hundredth time for making that damned deal with the Dark Lord.

It only took a month for Greg to curse his daughter. He had been good until then, keeping his distance from her. A soft touch now and then but never holding her. Not until one night that Charlene had fallen asleep earlier then usual and he lay awake. He heard the soft crying from the next room as his baby girl woke and demanded something or another. Without even thinking, Greg rose from his bed, left his room and entered Grace's. He looked down at her in her crib, watching her cry for a moment before he absently reached down and picked her up. It was then that a horrible pain spread from his marked wrist and across his hand before evaporating, only to be replaced the sound of Grace crying louder and wiggling in her father's hold as he knew pain filled her. Reluctantly, he peeled back the blanket and watched as the black mark slid up his daughter's arm and rested on her own wrist.

"Merlin's beard, what I have done." Greg muttered. He couldn't think of it. Surely, now that Voldemort was gone, there was nothing to worry about. The dark lord couldn't collect his payment if he was dead…right?

(3 years ago)

Grace lay on her bed, reading. Her dirty blonde hair falling over her shoulders and reaching down her curved back to her waist as she held herself up on her elbows. She bobbed her head slightly to the soft tune of an imaginary song that she was humming. Her knees bent as her feet moved back and forward in the air. Her dark blue eyes scanning the pages of the book in front of her.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Grace flinched as her mother's voice suddenly shattered the somewhat peace of her house. "WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME THIS? GOOD GOD…WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL GRACE? WHEN THAT EVIL MAN CAME TO COLLECT HIS PAYMENT?"

"What the…" Grace muttered, closing her book. She rolled onto her side before getting off her bed and quietly walking to her door.

"I didn't think he would return." Greg said. "It was just so…unlikely."

"If Dumbledore says he's back…" Charlene said. Grace popped her head out of her door and looked down the stairs to where her parents stood.

"Dumbledore says he's back…the ministry is saying that he isn't…" Greg said.

"Well who do you believe most?" Charlene asked.

"I don't know." Greg said.

"Who's back?" Grace asked, finally having enough of this and exiting her room, walking down the stairs to her bickering parents.

"Grace…" Charlene said. Grace raised an eyebrow. "Your father has something to tell you." With a final glare towards Greg, Charlene went up the stairs and into the room she shared with her husband. Greg and Grace flinched as the door closed.

"Dad?" Grace asked.

"You've heard of what the prophet has to say about what happened at the Triwizard Tournament." Greg said.

"Yes, of course." Grace said. "But what the bloody hell is mum going on about? Dad…what did she mean when she asked when you were going to tell me?"

"That mark on your wrist." Greg said. Grace looked down at her wrist at the black mark there. For her whole life, she didn't know what it was. It didn't look like anything but a black smudge. Greg sighed and brought his daughter over to the sofa where they sat down and he explained everything.

"You willingly traded me to the dark lord just so that you could impress mum and have her agree to marry you?" Grace said.

"You weren't born then." Greg said, trying to defend his actions.

"Is that why you think I'm a mistake?" Grace asked. "Because you never wanted children because of that damned deal…especially not a girl."

"I never thought you were a mistake." Greg said.

"You did too!" Grace said. "You've told so many bloody lies I can't believe what you say anymore." She sat in angry silence for a while. "When is he coming?"

"I don't know…why?" Greg asked.

"I need to get out of here before he does, don't I?" Grace asked. "I'm a week shy of being fifteen and just now finding out that I've been promised to the evilest of wizards our world has to offer. What am I supposed to be? A play thing, a bride, something he uses to take his anger out on?"

"He could have forgotten." Greg said. "He must have forgotten. He's been back for nearly a month."

"You've forgotten, dad." Grace said, glaring at her father. "This is Voldemort we're talking about." Her father flinched at the name. "I'm surprised he isn't standing at the door just waiting for the right moment to burst in."

"Why stand at a door when I can just burst in?" Greg and Grace both went incredibly stiff as the cold, hard voice filled the room. They turned to look at the dark lord who sat on the big chair a few feet from them. "I believe the time has come for me to collect my payment."

"No way." Grace said, backing up. "I…I…there is no bloody way I'm going anywhere with you."

"You have no choice." Voldemort said, rising gracefully from the chair and advancing on the retreating teenager.

"No…dad, do something." Grace said, looking hopelessly at her father.

"You will not take my daughter." Charlene said suddenly, coming down the stairs and pushing Grace behind her as she pulled her wand out.

"Silly witch." Voldemort said. "I don't enjoy killing much…well…actually…I do." He raised his own wand. "Now, you can keep your life and hand over your daughter…or you can die. Either way, I get her. There is no stopping me."

"I'd rather die then willing hand over my child." Charlene said.

"No! What are you doing?" Greg said, jumping over and standing by his wife. He too pulled out his wand, even though he knew it was useless.

"Tsk, tsk…I see there will be two more corpses added to the list." Voldemort said. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" A green light filled the room, along with the sounds of Grace screaming.


	2. Asking Questions

**Asking Questions**

I like knowing that people like my stories especially when they're just random thoughts brought out of no where really.

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(Present)

Draco Malfoy walked out of the room he had been given. It was no where near as nice as his room at his home but he couldn't return there now. He couldn't get what Dumbledore had said out of his mind. Dumbledore had told him that he could help him, protect him and his mother. Then Snape and the others arrived and Snape killed the headmaster.

Why? Why had Draco not gone to Dumbledore instead of trying to continue with the task Voldemort set for him? He could answer that almost instantly…his pride. He wouldn't willingly ask for help…almost everyone knew that. Draco curled his hand into a fist as he walked down the quiet stone hallway. His damn pride got in the way of everything. He wanted to be better then his father. Wanted to succeed at something where his father had failed.

It was then that it hit him…why was he so willingly joining Voldemort then if he wanted to be better then his father? The realization of that question hit him so hard that Draco actually stopped moving almost as if he had run into a wall. He stood there for a minute, contemplating the question in his head. Then the answer to his question came quickly as he started walking again.

The other side would not accept him…not after what he had done. Sure, he was pretty damn sure that no one at the school saw him and knew what he was doing that night that Dumbledore died…but they would have known one way or another that he was there and the one meant to kill Dumbledore. Where else was he to go? His life was useless now. He couldn't even see his mother because he wasn't allowed at the meetings and she had been forbidden to come down this way.

Draco basically had a whole corner, even if it was small, to himself. He had spent the last month wandering the hallways. He had run into other death eaters but never his mom and, occasionally, he would run into Voldemort…those never ended pleasantly. The dark lord was rarely ever in a place by accident. Whenever he was in the corner of the building that Draco inhabitated, it was to torment him.

Or go into the dark room at the end of the hallway Draco now traveled. The young man didn't know what was in that room but he had seen many of the inner circle death eaters enter it looking either bored, angry and…something else. Always they would leave looking satisfied and happier then when they entered. Whenever the door opened, Draco could hear whimpers. Could hear the sound of some person in there. Once or twice he had caught Snape entering that room with a box and Merlin only knew what was in that box.

"Draco!" Draco jumped and looked up to see the former professor standing in front of him, holding a box. He looked to the side and noticed that he had been standing next to the door that led into the dark room where the whimpers came from.

"Umm…I was just walking." Draco said.

"You have been standing here for a fair few minutes." Snape said.

"Oh…" Draco said. He looked at the box Snape held. "What's in the boxes you keep bringing in there? And for that matter…what…or who is in there?" He gestured at the door.

"It's none of your concern." Snape said. Draco glared at him. The former professor glared right back.

"Are you going to make that trip sometime today, Severus?" The icy cold voice of Lord Voldemort came from behind Snape. Draco side stepped to look at the dark lord and Snape turned slightly. "I'd rather keep it…alive." Voldemort's eyes rested on Draco. They narrowed at the youngest Malfoy before snapping back to Snape. "Well?"

"Yes." Snape said, nodding slightly. He shifted the box before reaching out and opening the door. Even though he wanted to, Draco dared not to turn his eyes to the door to try and catch a glimpse of what was in it. Snape disappeared into the room.

"Young Mr. Malfoy." Voldemort said. Draco looked at him. He expected something harsh, something cruel. What he didn't expect was what Voldemort said next. "Walk with me." Draco blinked and stared after the dark lord as he seemed to glide back down the hall. Draco shook his head and caught up with him, staying a respectable distance behind him. "For the past…almost three years…that room has been inhabitated."

"Uh…" Draco said, not really sure what he should say…if anything.

"You have, undoubtedly, been wondering what is in there this past month." Voldemort said. Draco noticed the dark lord's eyes on him and nodded slightly. "It is, as Severus has said, none of your concern. You are to disregard anything you see or hear from that room unless otherwise told." Draco closed his eyes for a moment, if only to hide the fact that he was rolling them. He then nodded again. Voldemort stopped and spun about to face him. Draco came to an instant halt. "The time to choose where your loyalties lie is growing smaller by the day. Trust in the fact that if I have any reason Mr. Malfoy…any at all to believe that you could be a traitor…then you will be begging for the times you have just been through." Draco took an involuntary step back as Voldemort turned once more and walked away.

"Bloody hell…" Draco muttered, blinking a few times. He turned back around and headed the way he came He got by the door just as Snape was exiting it, box free. He glanced in and then froze.

Sitting in the room was a pale girl, terribly thin and covered in various wounds. The door slammed shut and Draco jumped, looking up at Snape's angry face.

"You are not to speak of what it is you just saw." Snape hissed. Draco nodded carefully. He backed away from the angry professor and, once he got around the corner, collapsed against a wall.

He knew the dark lord and his followers were brutal…but he had no idea of the extend of that brutality.

-------

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_I am well aware of the fact that you have no wish to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I must, however, press the matter that you are needed to come to the school, if only for a brief time on your birthday. There are some things that I believe you should know of before you head out on your journey. I hope you agree and again I must press the urgency of this. Please send the owl back with a reply._

_Professor M. McGonagall  
Headmistress of Hogwarts_

Harry looked at the leader. His eyes more at the end of it. McGonagall was no longer the 'Deputy Headmistress'…not since Dumbledore died. What could she possibly want though? What was so urgent that she had to catch him before he was even legally (in the wizard world) allowed to leave his uncle's house? Harry was tempted not even to reply by the owl that had delivered the letter gave a loud shriek and Harry sighed before sending back a reply, saying that he would be there sometime in the afternoon.

"Are you happy now?" He asked the owl, folding and sealing the letter. The owl just stared at him. Harry sighed and gave it a treat before giving it the letter and watching it fly out the window. McGonagall was right, he didn't want to go back to the school…ever again. He knew he should, he knew that there was still more that he had to learn. But with Ron and Hermione joining him…did he honestly need to? Hermione could learn things from her books and then teach them to Harry and Ron and so there wasn't much point in going back to school…was there?

Harry looked out the window and smiled as he saw a little puff of an owl flapping it's way towards him. Ron's owl Pig, given to Ron by Harry's godfather, Sirius Black as a way of saying 'sorry for showing you that your rat was actually a cowardly murderer'. Harry moved out of the way as the little owl flew into the room and then fell onto the bed.

"Well…what do we have here?" Harry asked. He took the letter from the owl and opened it.

_Harry,_

_I've just had a talk with Hermione and she's added more things to our list of things we need to bring along for our trip. Mum's not very happy, obviously. But everyone else seems, surprisingly, fine with things. They've added some things to our list and Remus says that we should spend at least a week or two with him, Moody and some others teaching us new spells and stuff that could be useful. Hermione and I agree with him so I hope you're ok with it. Did you get a letter from McGonagall? She's sent me one. I'm not sure about Hermione because I've only just got him before I started this letter to you._

_Can't wait to hear back from you.  
Hope the muggles aren't making things too hard for you._

_Ron_

Harry shook his head and set about writing another reply.

_Ron,_

_The muggles couldn't be happier to be getting rid of me. I just sent my reply to McGonagall before Pig showed up, telling her that I would be at the school on my birthday like she asked. Remus' idea sounds ok but the sooner we can go, the better. I don't want to give Voldemort too much time to build up his army and do whatever it is he's doing. How is Hermione? I heard about her parents and that was the last thing I got from her. You two are still together right?_

_I'll see you later then I guess._

_Harry_

He looked over the reply, knowing that putting Voldemort's name into it would probably make Ron jumpy but other then that he saw no flaws in it. He sealed it up tightly and made sure that no one but Ron could open it before giving the letter to Pig and watching the tiny owl bob out of sight.

What had happened to Hermione's parents was dreadful. Harry didn't even know the full extent of it. One day things had been just boring and the next he had received a simple letter from Hermione with only five words on it.

_My parents are dead. Hermione_

It was an awful day as Harry had taken his anger out on his room. He hadn't bothered to clean up the mess he had made so there was fluff from pillows all over the floor as well as clothes and drawers that had been yanked out of his dresser. One door on the wardrobe had been ripped off with some difficulty. The only thing that had been cleaned was the bed. Harry had put the mattress back on and used the bunched up blanket as a pillow now.

"I hope she's ok." Harry said for what seemed to be the millionth time since he found out about it. He had desperately wanted to talk to Ginny but felt it somewhat inappropriate for some reason. The only person he had really had contact with that summer so far was Ron. Through him, Harry found out about everyone else.

What was he supposed to expect when he arrived, first at school on his birthday, and then at the headquarters to do some last minute training?

-------

Grace ran her hand through her dark, dirty hair. It had been a while since she had washed. Voldemort allowed it every once in a while when her appearance was distasteful to him or any of the others. For the last three years Grace had not only missed a bunch of school in which she could have learned things that could have helped her, she had also had her wand broken by one of the dark lord's followers, had been beaten with physical, verbal and magical abuse and, despite that, had grown into an attractive young lady.

If it weren't for the fact that she was too thin, too scarred, for the most part, too dirty…and too blocked off. Her dark blue eyes, which used to shine, had gone dull over the years. She barely registered the abuse now. She let it happened. For the first almost a year, she had fought, using everything she could against the multiple invasions on her body in different ways but now she had grown used to it.

Especially when it was Voldemort. He had to merely just touch her right wrist, laying just the tip of a finger on the dark mark and say a single word, and she would freeze up, fall over in agony, or do anything that suited his needs at the moment.

Over those years, the only person that she had seen that hadn't been in that room to harm her was the greasy haired, hook nosed man, Severus Snape. His visits were rare at first and thus the food he brought in those boxes was plenty, enough to last just a bit more then a week. Now however, for some odd reason Grace wasn't sure about, his visits were almost daily. He always brought enough food for at least two days now and so Grace allowed herself to eat more then she had previously. She only knew of dates from Snape and it was then that she knew that she had been there almost a full three years.

There wasn't even a month between now and her seventeenth birthday, which meant less then three weeks to mark the fact that she had survived three years under near constant abuse from ten or more men.

"Who was out there?" Grace asked, quietly. Snape looked at her as he took different things of food out of the box. Grace's eyes were on the door and they narrowed.

"I believe you'll meet him soon enough." Snape said. Grace instantly went stiff. "The son of Lucius Malfoy." Snape really wasn't helping now. Grace's breathing went off instantly and she found it incredibly hard to breathe properly. She was so stiff, it was almost as if a plank of wood had been nailed to her back.

Lucius had been the worst before he was thrown in Azkaban. He had enjoyed his two to four times a week visits to her. Grace didn't know what he did to her the most but all she knew was that he much preferred to use his wand on her, rather then get his hands dirty.

There was a cracking noise and she jumped, her stiff frame nearly toppling over if she hadn't shot out an arm to keep herself up. She looked at Snape and watched him pour something from a bottle into a glass before handing the glass to her. Grace reached out a shaking hand and took the glass, glad it wasn't filled to the brim because it surely would have splashed everywhere. She grasped the glass with both hands before taking slow steady sips of the liquid.

"I'm sure the dark lord will allow you to wash soon." Snape said. Grace ran her hand through her hair again. Where it had once been a dirty blonde colour, it now looked a dark brown colour. The baths and showers she took weren't nearly long enough to wash properly after the years of being trapped in the single stone room with a few candles as the only light.

"You have to go now." Grace said, quietly. The visits from Snape were the only times she had talked. Her voice could barely rise above a whisper. Snape didn't say anything. He stood, gave her one last look, then went to the door and opened it.

Grace's eyes locked on those of a young man with bright, white blonde hair. It was a brief second that they stared at each other before Snape slammed the door shut. Even then, she could hear what Snape said to the young man, even though he had said it quietly.

"You are not to speak of what it is you just saw."

Curiousity filled her like it never had before. Not since she was a little girl and her first experience with flying. Dear Merlin, did she miss those days. The hours she took for granted as she just sat on her father's broom and soared through the air, gazing dreamily down at the ground below her.

She was never getting those back now. She had wasted it all, taking it all for granted that she would always be able to do these things. Never knowing that the occasionally painful mark on her wrist would one day lead to her imprisonment for a debt her father made. If only she didn't. If only her father had never turned to Voldemort to assist in gaining her mother's hand in marriage. If only she, Grace, had been born a boy instead of a girl.

If only…

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So what do you all think of this second chapter? I never really intended on adding that last bit with Grace but I thought it somewhat appropriate. 


	3. Elements of Hope

**Elements of Hope**

Ok so it's been a while but I only got one review so there.

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"Have you heard of Elementals, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked.

"I've heard of elements but…" Harry said.

"Elementals are people, not necessarily witches or wizards, that can control different elements." McGonagall said. "Now…in most cases they can only control one element, at the most two." Harry watched her, not really sure what was going on. "Three years ago, two Elementals by the names of Greg and Charlene Turner were killed by Voldemort."

"Ok…" Harry said, still not getting it.

"It has been rumored that their daughter, who was fourteen at the time and a Bauxbatons student, was killed as well." McGonagall said.

"Rumored?" Harry asked.

"We heard from Severus, before we learned his true nature…" McGonagall's voice had turned bitter by this point. "That this may not be the case. I have no doubts that Fleur or her sister, most likely, would know of whom I speak."

"But why are you telling me this then?" Harry asked.

"Because, Mr. Potter, Mr. and Mrs. Turner were a two of the rare elementals that controlled two elements each." McGonagall said. "Mr. Turner, earth and water, Mrs. Turner, fire and air."

"So you're saying that their daughter could be in control of all four?" Harry asked.

"It is a very, very high probability." McGonagall said.

"So…if she wasn't killed…where is she then?" Harry asked, having completely forgotten what McGonagall had said about Snape.

-------

Draco was, once again, walking the halls of his littler corner. He stopped and watched as Snape came down the hall towards the room that housed the girl. He had a box in one hand and…what looked to be a cake in the other.

"You might as well open the door for me instead of just hide there and think I would know." Snape said. Draco walked forward, feeling silly.

"Why do you have a cake?" He asked. Snape sighed and looked behind himself down the hallway. Draco leaned slightly to look past the professor and down the bare hallway.

"Open the door and come in with me." Snape said, finally. Draco straightened instantly, his eyes shooting wide open. "Open the bloody door before I drop something." Draco shook his head and quickly opened the door. Snape walked in and, after another look up and down the hall, Draco followed. The door shut loudly behind him, making him jump. By the time his attention was back on Snape, it was to find the man kneeling on the ground and removing things from the box next to a terrible looking girl.

She wasn't terrible looking in the way that…Pansy Parkinson was. Dear Merlin did Draco hate that girl. No…this girl was terrible looking in the way that someone who most obviously was a beautiful young woman but had been abused so horribly for Merlin only knew how long that the beauty was now hidden by scars and pain.

"Draco." Snape snapped. Draco jumped and tore his eyes away from the girl to look at Snape. "Don't just stand there." Obediently, Draco approached the two slowly and sank down to his knees by the professor. Unable to resist, he looked at the girl again to get his first real look at her.

The first thing he noticed was that she was undoubtedly the thinnest girl he had ever seen. She was dressed in nothing more then a ripped t-shirt that possibly used to be white but not was a medium-dark grey, as well as black shorts that were equally ripped and seemed too big for her small body.

_How much weight has she lost if she's most likely been here for years and I doubt that Voldemort or anyone, even Snape, had given her new clothes?_ Draco thought, his eyes slowly climbing up the girl's body, stopping momentarily at the dirty silver chain with a small pentagram pendant hanging off it, a different colored gem at each point. His eyes stopped on her face and he, yet again, jumped as he noticed her own, dark blue eyes, looking at him.

Snape was talking. Damn it! Why did he have to let his curiosity take control again?

"Draco…learn to pay attention." Snape said. "Unless, of course, you do not wish to know her name." Both teenagers instantly looked at him. Snape looked at the girl. "I believe you should introduce yourself." Draco looked at her as well to see her eyes widen. She moved slightly and the light from the closest candle caught on the gems on her necklace and they glittered brightly for a moment.

"Grace…" She said, finally and quietly. Draco looked at her eyes again to see them resting on him once more and he then noticed the look of fear in them. She was afraid of him? Why? That question was answered quickly.

His father. Draco had no doubts that his father was one of her tormentors. There was no way he wasn't. Lucius Malfoy tormented everyone in his life so why would he leave this girl alone if she was an easy access deal?

"He's gone…" Grace said, quietly. She was no longer looking at Draco but at the spot where Snape had been kneeling. Draco looked as well before jumping to his feet.

"I'm not even supposed to be here." He said. Grace's dark eyes watched him as he frantically tried to figure out why Snape would have left without indicating it to him. She looked down at the food before picking up a tart and tapping Draco's leg with her foot. Slowly and carefully, she lifted the tart up, offering it to him. Draco stared at her before taking it and sitting back down on the floor to eat it.

"Your father is an awful man." Grace said.

"I know that." Draco said. "He's probably put you through the same hell in one year that he put me through my whole bloody life." His voice had turned bitter as he finished off the tart. Grace offered him one of the cups that Snape had brought in with the pumpkin juice. Draco took it, not really sure how someone who, not even five minutes ago was scared of him, was nonetheless offering him stuff. "Just don't start thinking I'm like him, alright?"

"Ummm…ok." Grace said. She looked more relaxed now then she did when he first saw her that day.

"Why did Snape bring a cake in?" Draco asked, looking down at the cake that was sliced into pieces but none of the pieces had been touched.

"Birthday…" Grace said.

"It's your birthday?" Draco asked.

"Next week." Grace said. "Three years…"

"Three years?" Draco asked, confused.

"I've been here three years." Grace said.

"Oh…" Draco said. He mentally hit himself. 'Oh' was the best he could come up with? Draco Malfoy, king of quick, witty comebacks, couldn't even think of anything to say to a girl that's been locked up and tormented for three years straight but 'oh'. God he was getting pathetic.

"Why are you here?" Grace asked.

"No where else to go." Draco said, simply. "You?"

"My father." Grace said, looking away.

"Kind of the same for me I guess." Draco said. "Although you already know a bit of that." Grace nodded. "So…who's your father?"

"He's dead." Grace said. "He sold me." Draco didn't need to ask what she meant. Her father had sold her to Voldemort for some reason or another and that's why she was here. "Why do you have no where else?" Grace was amazed with herself for speaking so much to this guy she didn't even know.

"I was supposed to kill Dumbledore but couldn't so Snape did it and now we're both stuck here." Draco said. "We show our faces anywhere in the wizarding world and we're dead." Grace tilted her head, her eyes holding a hint of an emotion that wasn't fear. Draco finished off the pumpkin juice he had been given and stood up. "I really should go."

"Will you come back?" Grace asked, wondering why she wanted to talk to him again.

"I can…try." Draco said. For the first time in three years, a small smile crossed Grace's face. Draco was amazed at the change and he stared at her for a moment before both of them jumped terribly as the door opened. They both relaxed when they saw Snape.

"It's time to leave now, Draco." Snape said.

"Bye…" Draco said, moving his fingers in a slight wave towards Grace as he headed to the door. Grace nodded but didn't say anything in return. Draco left the room and watched Snape close the door. "What's going on?"

"Any way possible, you will come back here." Snape said. Draco stared at him in confusion. "You both have suffered the same. Is it not better to have someone you can talk to who knows how it feels?" Draco nodded slowly and Snape left. He stood there for a moment, staring at the door, before he went to his room.

-------

"So what did McGonagall want?" Ron asked.

"She wanted to tell me about Elementals." Harry said.

"What are those?" Ron asked.

"People who have control over one of the four elements." Hermione said. It was really the first thing Harry heard her say since his arrival apart from 'hello Harry'. "They don't necessarily have to be witches or wizards."

"Oh." Ron said. "But why would Harry need to know that?"

"Harry?" Hermione asked.

"There's a girl…" Harry said. "In Voldemort's captivity."

"Is she an elemental then?" Ron asked. Harry nodded. "So what's so important about her apart from the fact that she's a hostage?"

"She has control over all four elements." Harry said. Ron and Hermione stared at him with wide eyes.


	4. Nighttime Visitor

**Nighttime Visitor**

Ooooh…five reviews. Well then, here's the next chapter.

* * *

Grace was never a heavy sleeper so when the door opened in the middle of the night, she just opened her eyes to see who she should prepare herself for. There was no word to describe the surprise she felt when the silhouette of the person in the doorway was shorter then the others that visited at night. Grace sat up slowly as the door closed, throwing the whole room into darkness before the visitor muttered a spell and lit a few of the candles.

"You look no better then you did a few days ago." Draco said, walking close enough for Grace to see him in the dark. She watched him sit down by her.

"Why are you here?" Grace asked in her quiet voice.

"Only time I can come here without getting caught." Draco said, shrugging. Grace tilted her head. He answered a different question then the one she asked. "Just thought you could use some company that…didn't want to do anything to you." She slowly nodded and shivered. "Snape brings you all this food and doesn't bother giving you more stuff to cover you up?"

"I guess not." Grace said.

"Well then…good thing I thought of this." Draco said, slipping the bag off his back and pulling out a sweater before handing it to Grace. "Sorry there's nothing more…this was the best I could find…and it seemed like it would be warmer then the sheet on my bed."

"Umm…thank you…" Grace said, taking the sweater.

"How often do they show up at night?" Draco asked.

"Not very." Grace said. "It was pretty much only your father at night and…" She stopped and shifted uncomfortably.

"Do they wake you up?" Draco asked.

"No…Snape does normally." Grace said. "I wake myself up."

"Then you should be able to find a way to hide that." Draco said, nodded at the sweater. "Especially cause Snape leaves the boxes in here. I'm sure you can hide it in one of those." He then nodded at the stack of boxes in one of the corners.

"I guess." Grace said.

"You know you can put it on right?" Draco asked. Grace smiled slightly, nervously. She slowly pulled the sweater on over her head, wincing as she did so. Draco couldn't help but grimace as he watched her and saw the numerous scars and healing wounds on her body. She finally settled and looked at Draco. "It fit all right?"

"Big…it's nice." Grace said, chewing her lower lip and smiling a bit.

"Glad you like it." Draco said. "If I ever find out way to get out and not get killed, I'll see if I can get you some other stuff then."

"You don't have to." Grace said. She looked at the sleeves as they hid her hands.

"I wish there was something I could do…" Draco said, moving so that he sat next to Grace with his back against the wall. Grace looked over at him and pushed her dirty hair out of her face.

"Will you keep visiting me?" She asked.

"As much as I can." Draco said.

"That's all you can do." Grace said. Draco looked at her but Grace's eyes were back on her sleeve covered hands.

---------

"So…does McGonagall want us to go save her?" Tonks asked.

"I don't know what she wants." Harry said. "All she did was tell me about Elementals and then told me about this girl."

"She's picking up on Dumbledore's cryptic messaging." Remus said, running his hand through his hair. Tonks put her own hand over top of Remus' other hand as if trying to comfort him.

"It wouldn't be too hard…it might even be easy if it wasn't for the fact that we don't know where the damned Death Eaters meet!" Moody said.

"So what are we going to do then?" Harry asked.

"I thought you, Ron and Hermione were going to finish the task Dumbledore started." Remus said.

(((A/N: I cannot remember what those bloody things are called so if someone would like to help me out there, much thanks.)))

"Well…yeah…but…" Harry said. "I don't know."

"We can do both." Hermione said. "Once Harry and Ron pass their apparition tests…it should be quite easy."

"Stupid eyebrow." Ron muttered. Harry looked as if he wanted to argue but couldn't find the right words so he fell silent.

--------

"I know this is going to sound stupid but bare with me because I'm sort of sleep deprived right now." Draco said. Grace looked at him. "Why are you so submissive?"

"What other way is there to be when every day for three years different men come in and invade you any way possible?" Grace said. "And the less you fight, relatively speaking, the less pain you have to endure."

"Good point." Draco said. "What exactly did your father do?"

"Voldemort helped him get my mother somehow." Grace said. "But the price was that, as soon as he had a daughter and held her, the daughter would be cursed." She went on to explain about the mark on her wrist and how her father had doomed her.

"At least you had almost a full fourteen years with a loving family." Draco said. "My mother was great but my father…"

"I know about the father part." Grace said.

"The only reason I did what Voldemort said was because he threatened my mother." Draco said. "I should have just…gone to Dumbledore. I was too stubborn though. I thought for sure I could figure things out on my own." Grace had nothing to say to that. She absently scratched at her small dark mark, her eyes on the flickering flame of the candle. Draco stretched his hands above his head, yawning. "I should probably get out of here soon."

"Oh…" Grace said, looking up from the flame. She blinked and rubbed her eyes to try and get the imprint off of them.

"I'll come back soon." Draco said. "I don't think I can come with Snape but I think I can get away with nighttime." He slowly stood up and looked down at Grace. "Don't forget about hiding the sweater."

"Right." Grace said. Draco held out his hand and, after a moment, Grace put hers into it. He unexpectedly pulled her to her feet. She was barely three inches shorter then him and she almost fell over. Draco concluded that she didn't spend much time on her feet.

"I'll see if I can get away with coming back tomorrow night alright?" He said. Grace nodded. "Just…don't wait up for me." He wasn't quite sure but he thought she looked disappointed. He wasn't sure what possessed him to do it but he put an arm around her in a quick hug before he headed over to the door. Grace sat back down and watched as darkness filled the room when Draco blew out the candle. Light flooded in through the open door as he left, and then all was black again.

As he lied on his bed, Draco couldn't help thinking that visiting Grace would do as much good to him as it did to her. Who knew…maybe one day they could help each other escape. Maybe one day…


	5. Escape Plan

**Escape Plan**

Wow…five reviews again! And its taken me a month to update…I seem to be getting good at updating every month with a lot of my stories.

* * *

Draco walked through the halls, passing in front of Grace's room more times then he should. He felt desperate to see her. Throughout the whole day he had seen numerous Death Eaters go down the hall and into her room. He hadn't been to see her since he had given her the sweater and that was almost two weeks ago. By now…given the choice to see either Grace or his mother…Draco would have a hard time choosing.

"What are you doing?" He jumped and spun around at the sound of the harsh voice.

"McNair." Draco said.

"Answer the question, boy." McNair said.

"I only get this bloody corner to wander and it's not all that big." Draco said. "I should be asking you why you're here."

"It's none of your business." McNair snapped. Draco couldn't help but think the old executioner had never gotten over the fact that the damned hippogriff managed to get away from right under his nose a few years ago. It certainly made the old man much grumpier.

Draco walked away and thought things over. He had done nearly the same stuff everyday for almost two weeks and he was beginning to figure out when the Death Eaters started their visits to Grace and when they all finished for the day. McNair and another Death Eater (Draco couldn't remember his name) were usually the last ones of the days and they seemed to alternate. Always, though, no one seemed to come after about ten-thirty…eleven o'clock at night. Draco had actually stayed awake all day for a few days to figure that out.

There was nothing else for him to do.

--------

"Ah…feels good to have freedom…so to speak." Ron said, apparating next to Harry and Hermione in the kitchen.

"How do you do that?" Harry asked.

"You just focus on where you want to go and…" Ron started.

"No…I mean sleep forever." Harry said. Ron blinked. "I can't bloody well sleep in the same room as you because you snore too much."

"Oy!! I do not!" Ron said. He looked at Hermione. "Do I?"

"Yes." Hermione said.

"How would Mione know?" Harry asked. Almost instantly Ron and Hermione's cheeks went red and neither of them looked at Harry or at each other. Harry looked between them and then his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "You mean…you two? Ooooh…"

"Shut up!" Ron said. "Nobody knows and we're going to keep it that way."

"When?" Harry asked.

"We're not telling you." Ron and Hermione both said.

"Alright, alright, fine." Harry said. "So anyways…we have to figure out how we're going to do this. Track down the Hurcruxes AND try to find a way to save this Elemental girl."

"Do you think she would even know she's an Elemental?" Ron asked.

"She should." Hermione said. "It's very unlikely for Elementals not to discover their powers."

"But if she's without a wand…" Ron said.

"Haven't you been listening?" Hermione asked. "Wizards AND muggles can be them and they don't need wands to do anything."

"Maybe that's why Voldemort wanted her?" Harry asked. "Maybe he knew that she could do all that but she didn't…and so he…umm…"

"Captures her and does stuff to break her spirit or something?" Ron filled in. Harry nodded. "Sounds like something he would do."

"It is possible." Hermione said.

"Hey…where's everybody else?" Ron asked, looking around.

"They all went out…see if they could dig up something about any possible locations for where the Death Eaters could be hiding." Harry said.

"Ooooh." Ron said. None of them talked for a few minutes. "I'm hungry."

--------

Draco waited around the corner. McNair certainly was taking his time. The young man was almost scared to see Grace, not really wanting to see the damage done by all those who had visited her that day (and it was a lot, more then usual). Finally, a few minutes after eleven, McNair exited the room, looking calmer and somewhat happier then when he entered. Draco waited another few minutes before walking carefully down the hall. He opened the door and walked inside.

Grace was lying on her stomach, her head on her arms. The majority of the candles were still lit and Draco winced when he saw the damage done to her body. Grace moved her head a bit when he slipped into the room but didn't make any other movements.

"Bloody hell…" Draco said. He walked over to her and knelt down by her. Grace looked exhausted and was covered in bruises. She was bleeding from a few spots but Draco came to the conclusion that the Death Eaters didn't want to make too much of a mess.

Afterall…that's why they use Avada Kedavra.

"What's happening?" Grace asked, quietly. "Practically all of them were here…at least all of the ones that usually come here." She shifted a bit and winced as she pulled an arm out from under her head. There was more blood on there then the rest of her body.

"I don't know." Draco said. "Can you get up?"

"In a minute." Grace said. Draco didn't like it. She just lay there. He was so used to seeing her sitting up. His attention was drawn to her back. There was a scar that stood out running parallel with her spine. He wondered what happened to get such a thing. Grace moved and he looked away to watch her try to push herself up into a sitting position. He took the unconscious hint and gently helped her move so that she was sitting with her back to the wall as usual.

"Sorry it's been a while…been trying to figure out the schedules." Draco said. "There really isn't much else so I kinda stayed up all night a few times."

"No one comes at night…only your dad did." Grace said.

"You've said that." Draco said. Grace looked over to where all the boxes were. Draco looked before getting up and walking over to them. He grabbed a couple of drinks and some pastries before he spotted his sweater tucked away. He grabbed that as well and returned to Grace. "Have you ever tried getting out of here?"

"I used to do that all the time for the first couple of months." Grace said, barely smiling. She took the sweater when Draco handed it to her but she didn't put it on. Draco frowned and thought about what he could do when she was obviously in too much pain to pull it over his head.

"Hey, give it here for a minute." He said. Grace frowned and returned the sweater. Draco took out his wand and muttered a spell as he ran it down the middle of the sweater. It cut neatly straight down and he helped Grace slip it on.

"You're handy." She muttered.

"I pick up on things over the years." Draco said, taking a bite out of a pastry. They ate silently, both of them looking as if they were thinking. Grace gingerly poked at a bruise on her leg and winced. "Are you going to be ok?"

"I think…Voldemort won't let me die." Grace said. "I've been going through this for over three years. If he wanted me dead, he would have done it by now."

"He might just be doing it slowly." Draco said.

"His favourite spell isn't Avada Kedavra for nothing." Grace said. "He doesn't keep people around for no reason."

"You've learned this how?" Draco asked.

"He comes in every day…and he talks." Grace said. "He talks while he's hurting me."

"Why would he keep you around then?" Draco asked. Grace shrugged and finished her pastry and drink. "Well there's gotta be something. You have to have some kind of power."

"Why?" Grace asked.

"Why else would he do this to you?" Draco said. "Break you in whatever way is most convenient so then you won't have the strength or energy or whatever to fight."

"You put some thought into that." Grace said.

"I have nothing better to do during the day." Draco said, shrugging. "Kinda think you have things just a bit easy…"

"Stop talking there." Grace said, suddenly giving Draco a dark look he had never seen on her before. "Do you have any idea what I'd give to be bored all day long? I took it for granted before Voldemort killed my parents. I hated being bored and now I wish I could be."

"Sorry." Draco said, looking away from her. They were quiet. "I'm gonna get you out of here…I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Grace said.

"I can keep this promise, Grace." Draco said, looking at her intensely. He took out his wand. "I won't do an unbreakable one since I'm kind of scared of those. But it'll be close." Before Grace could say anything, Draco took her hand in his hand and held his wand above them. "I, Draco Malfoy, promise you…"

"Grace Turner." Grace said, giving up on trying to figure out a way to stop him.

"Grace Turner, that I will find a way to get you out of here safely." Draco said. A ribbon of light seemed to wind around their hands and then each hand was marked with what looked like a bird just under the thumb. "It's different for each promise."

"A bird?" Grace asked.

"I guess it's that 'setting free' thing." Draco said. Grace looked at Draco, suddenly scared.

"Won't they notice?" She asked.

"Do any of them ever get that close to you?" Draco asked. Grace thought about it and shook her head slowly.

"Not really." She said.

"I could just do a concealment charm if you like." Draco said. Grace nodded. Draco did the charm and they sat silently for a while. They then talked about random little things, like what they missed the most about the outside world, and what they would do if they got the chance to be free. Draco left after a few hours and went to his room. He looked at his owl.

His idea was risky. He didn't know what would happen or what the response to his request would be. But he had promised and he would try anything he could think of to fulfill that promise.

--------

"What do you have there, Harry?" Ron asked. An owl had flown into the room and was now sitting on Harry's bedside table. Harry had looked at the letter with it skeptically before taking it.

"I don't know who it's from." He said. "But I think it might be someone from Hogwarts."

"What's it say then?" Ron asked. Harry handed over the letter.

_Potter,_

_I have a request for you. I would appreciate it if you, Weasley and Granger could meet me somewhere. I don't care where but since this is quite urgent I hope to get a place and time back from you quickly. I honestly can't emphasize the importance of this._

"That's it?" Ron asked. "Well who the bloody hell could it be?"

"I dunno." Harry said. "The only person I could think of was Malfoy but I highly doubt it would be him."

"Maybe one of them Hufflepuff kids we know?" Ron asked

"I don't know." Harry said. "Do you think I should agree?"

"I think it would be an idea." Ron said. "But we should bring Lupin or someone with us."

"Yeah…" Harry said. "So where should we meet this person?"

"Umm…how about the Three Broomsticks?" Ron asked.

"Do you know how long it will take to get there?" Harry asked.

"Get where?" Hermione asked, coming into the room. Harry and Ron told her about the letter and showed her it. She was as stumped as they were about who sent it.

"We can just apparate there." Ron said.

"True." Hermione said. "Lupin and Tonks are the only ones who will be around long enough for something like this anytime soon so what about tomorrow at noon at the Three Broomsticks?"

"Sounds like a plan." The boys said together. Harry wrote down what Hermione suggested and gave the parchment to the owl which promptly took off afterwards.

* * *

So what do you think Malfoy has planned? It's not that hard to figure out. 


	6. Meeting

**

* * *

**

Here we go...Draco and Harry meeting up (oh...and the other people, of course...lol).

* * *

"Harry, stop fidgeting." Hermione said.

"I can't help it." Harry said. "We've been waiting here for fifteen minutes…this person is obviously not showing."

"Give it a bit longer." Remus said.

"Yeah, the message seemed like this person was pretty anxious about this." Tonks said. The door opened again and they all strained to see who came in. A few people walked in but one person stood out because of their dark coloured robe, the hood pulled up to hide their face.

"That…could be our person." Ron said. Sure enough, the person slowly made their way over, looking all over as if trying not to draw attention to themselves. Hermione noticed, once the person got to their table and held out their hand with a note in it, that there was what looked to be a bird just under the thumb. She took the note as no one else seemed to move for it.

"What's it say?" Harry asked.

"Don't overreact, shout, scream or draw attention." Hermione said. They all looked up at their 'guest' and then gasped as the hood was pulled back slightly to reveal the face of none other then Draco Malfoy.

"Couldn't have picked a later, less packed time for this?" He asked, quietly. He looked very tired and even edgy. No one spoke for a few minutes.

"Take a seat then." Remus said, gesturing to the empty chair at their table. Draco raised an eyebrow before sitting down.

"What's this about, Malfoy?" Ron asked.

"If you're going to say my name then at least say it quietly." Draco said.

"Why the bloody hell are you here? Shouldn't you be with your buddies trying to plan how to kill us?" Harry asked.

"No." Draco said, through clenched teeth.

"Then what is this all about?" Ron asked.

"There's a girl…" Draco said.

"Oh bloody hell you have got to be kidding." Harry said.

"Just listen to me alright?" Draco snapped. "This girl's been stuck being Voldemort's little torture toy for the past three years. He's not the only one that does it either. He killed her parents and took her as part of some promise her father made with him or something. I don't know the details."

"What's her name?" Remus asked, before anyone else could say anything.

"Grace…" Draco said. "Grace Turner."

"Elemental!" Harry, Ron and Hermione all said.

--------

"Dear Merlin what has happened to you?" Snape muttered. He walked across the room, putting the box he carried on the floor halfway then dropped down and turned Grace onto her back. The movements made her flinch and groan, bringing herself back into consciousness. She looked up at Snape and screamed. Snape jumped and backed away.

"Wha…huh…what's going on?" Grace asked, looking around.

"I should ask you that." Snape asked.

"Voldemort…" Grace said. "He…he was in here last…I think." Snape nodded slowly, approaching her again. "He was angry…he…seemed almost scared." Snape carefully sat her up then retrieved the box he had brought with him. "What's happening?"

"I don't know." Snape said. "My main focus is getting the majority of these healed." Grace looked worse then usual. She was terribly thin and covered in bruises. What was new was the amount of cuts and blood on her body. The Death Eaters didn't bother with making her bleed usually. Snape began to wonder if Voldemort was starting to tire of her and actually wanted to kill her now. He may not be a good guy but Snape had actually grown a bit attached to Grace over the time.

"Snape…" Grace said, surprising the ex-professor. She had never called him by any name, preferring to just say something without actually addressing him first. Snape looked at her face. "I wanna go home."

It sounded like it was the strongest thing she had ever said in the last three years. Her eyes held strong emotion as she said it and she seemed to be determined. Snape could only nod and then start working on healing her.

--------

Draco stared at the five people with him. He has just spent the last almost an hour listening to them tell him what Grace possibly was.

"It all fits." Remus said. "She's in Voldemort's captivity…"

"Her parents were killed by him less then a month after his return…" Tonks said.

"Obviously isn't even aware of what she is…" Remus said.

"Can you guys, like, not finish each others' sentences?" Ron asked.

"Sorry." The couple said.

"Are you ok?" Hermione asked, noticing the way Draco was watching them all.

"A lot to absorb." Draco said.

"We have to get her out of there." Harry said.

"Thus the reason why I came to you people." Draco said.

"Is this a trap?" Ron asked.

"I think he's being genuine." Tonks said.

"Ok fine." Harry said. "So…he can take us there…we can get her out and hide her at headquarters until we…" Draco stood up quickly and Harry actually shifted his chair away from him as he caught the look the other man was giving him. Everyone looked at him.

"Wherever she goes, I go." Draco said. "I'm not leaving her alone with you people especially after what she's been through."

"Why the bloody hell do you care so much?" Ron asked, completely not understanding and looking bewildered.

"Because…" Draco said, getting thoroughly frustrated. "I just do, ok?" He sat back down and looked as if he would have dropped his head into his hands if it weren't for the fact that his little outburst had drawn a bit of attention from other people.

"We could bring both of them…" Remus said.

"No!" Harry said. "It's my bloody house now and there's no way I'm letting him into it."

"Don't want to go into your stupid house anyways." Draco muttered. Harry glared at him.

"Well we don't have many options here, Harry." Remus said. "He seems determined not to be separated from her…"

"Probably to save his own skin…" Harry said.

"To keep her sane." Draco said. Everyone looked at him. "I'm the only person she's met in three bloody years that hasn't tried to hurt her or bring her to brink of death but not letting her die. You take her out of that right away and put her somewhere where everyone fusses over her and anyone would go insane."

"He's got a point." Hermione said.

"She's needs something familiar." Draco said. "Something to keep things steady…"

"She needs you to keep other people at a distance, at least at first." Hermione said. Draco nodded slowly.

"You can't honestly be agreeing with him, Mione." Ron said.

"Ron, my parents just died." Hermione said. "I needed you there to keep your mom from going crazy over me because I wouldn't have been able to handle that. I like your mom, but she's fussy."

"It's probably gonna be the same with this Grace girl." Tonks said, nodding. "It makes perfect sense."

"I still don't want…" Harry said.

"I don't think it matters." Remus said. "Since Dumbledore's dead…he can't give anyone permission to enter headquarters if they haven't already."

"I got it from a piece of parchment." Harry said.

"Yes but that parchment was destroyed." Remus said.

"Oh…didn't we have like…a second one in case of this?" Harry asked.

"Yeah…Sirius." Remus said.

"Oh…" Harry said. There was silence for a few minutes

"Well…what about my place?" Ron asked. Harry's head snapped around to look at him.

"That's a nice offer, but it's too dangerous." Tonks said. "There's gotta be a place that the Death Eaters wouldn't want to enter, let alone think of to look."

"I got it!!" Hermione said, suddenly brightening at her sudden brilliant idea.

* * *

Oh what could Hermione be thinking? Which one of you can figure it out?? If you get it right (or relatively close to the right answer) then I will…I will…I don't know what I'll do…you can come up with your own reward. 


	7. Break Out

**Break Out**

Wow…the people who did guess got it right!! Well…close to right. Way to go you guys!!

* * *

"Oh my god!" Draco said, dropping down next to Grace. Snape looked up at him. The older man had spent the afternoon with Grace, somehow managing to convince the Death Eaters to leave her be. Draco had paid little attention to the ex-professor when he entered the room. "What the bloody hell did they do to you?"

"It looked worse before." Snape said. Draco tore his eyes off from the girl and looked at Snape. "She actually bled, quite a bit."

"What is going on?" Draco asked. Grace's eyes remained down, as if she was ashamed. Draco picked up on this and looked between the two people that sat with him. He knew that Snape had some sort of attachment to the girl but he wasn't sure how deep it went and so he wasn't willing to do anything until the man was out and away from the room.

"I'll leave you two now." Snape said. "No one should be coming for the rest of the night." He rose and Draco watched him leave before looking back at Grace.

"I'm sorry this happened." He said. Grace didn't say anything. Draco got up and went to the door. He looked outside but didn't see or hear anyone near. He returned to Grace's side. "Grace? Come on, say something."

"I can't go through this anymore." Grace said, quietly. Draco leaned closer to her. She finally raised her eyes and looked at Draco. She then started to cry and, without thinking, Draco put his arms around her lightly. "I don't know why but it's getting too much."

"Shh…" Draco said, somewhat soothingly. "I have news…we're getting out tonight."

"What? How?" Grace asked.

"Just trust me." Draco said. Grace seemed reluctant but she nodded. They sat together quietly for a while until Grace calmed down and then Draco slid the backpack off his back and went over to the pile of boxes. Grace watched as he loaded the bag with some of the food there and then zipped it shut. He slung it back over his shoulder and picked up the sweater. He walked back over to Grace and held out his hand. She took it and he pulled her up.

"How are we getting out of here?" Grace asked.

"Very carefully." Draco said. He put the sweater on her and took her hand again. He started leading her out of the room but Grace didn't move quickly. He turned back to her. "Please Grace, trust me. I promised you I'd get you out and I'm promising you now that I'll take care of you whatever way you need." Draco knew he was actually asking a lot from her. He knew her trust had been shattered before from her father and had never had the chance to rebuild any of it.

"Ok." Grace said, finally. Draco tightened his grip on her hand and opened the door. Seeing no one in sight, he pulled her out of the room. As expected, Grace froze once her foot hit the ground. Draco felt bad then because he only then realized that she had no shoes and Merlin only knew what three years of little to no walking did to a person's feet. He didn't give himself time to dwell on it. Tugging slightly on her hand to get her to move again, he started back up and was quickly leading her towards his room. If Grace was in any pain, she didn't show it. Draco repeatedly looked back at her but she just followed him obediently, keeping quiet and continuously looking around the hallway.

"Ok…just sit here for a minute." Draco said, opening his door and leading Grace to the bed. She sat and he looked through the room before finally finding his extra shoes. "These will probably be a bit big but they're better then nothing." He handed them to Grace and, along with a pair of his pants and a belt then stood at the door, wand ready just in case, and kept an eye on the hallway while she dressed. Grace coughed to get his attention and he turned around to look at her. She looked rather silly with her head of dirty unkempt hair and his torn sweater over her grey tank top as well as his pants that seemed to be many sizes too big for her small frame. The belt seemed to go around twice and the shoes seemed to be the only thing that appeared to fit even though he knew they didn't.

"Now what?" Grace asked. Draco closed the door and locked it before crossing the room to his window. He blew off the bars with a spell and poked his head out. Grace raised an eyebrow when she heard him whistle. The other eyebrow joined the first as a whistle was heard in return.

"Ok and…good." Draco said. He pulled his head back in and looked at Grace. "Come on." Somewhat reluctantly, Grace walked over to him and looked out the window. A ladder was being held against the building by someone she couldn't see in the darkness. With a nervous glace at Draco, she allowed him to help her up and out the window. Grace kept her eyes on her hands as she slowly climbed down the ladder. She looked up once to see Draco following her down and then she yelped when she felt hands on her waist.

"It's ok, it's ok." Remus said, helped her with the last bit. They moved out of the way and Draco jumped down when he got close. "Everyone else is there already."

"And how are we gonna get there?" Draco asked. "I wasn't part of that bit of planning." Grace looked between them and Draco noticed her starting to back around. He lightly took hold of her hand and squeezed gently to try and relax her.

"There's a place up the road…we're going to use their fireplace…and then we have a bit of walking." Remus said. Draco nodded the three of them set off, making their way quickly out of sight from any Death Eater that could be nearby. It didn't take long for Draco to stop, make Remus take the backpack, and haul Grace onto his own back, seeing that she wasn't used to all the walking he was making her do. Remus didn't fail to notice this but he chose not to comment on it…yet.

"I thought you said this place was up the road?" Draco asked, several minutes later. Grace had her head on his shoulder and he wasn't quite sure if she was sleeping or not.

"It is…it's a very long road." Remus said. Draco groaned. Grace made a noise and shifted. Both men stopped and looked at her. "She's asleep."

"Oh." Draco said.

"What's this?" Remus asked. He looked at Grace's wrist as best as he could. The little dark mark stood out against her pale skin.

"It was Voldemort's reminder to her father." Draco said. Remus didn't ask anymore questions. Draco reluctantly woke Grace as they got to the house. Remus went through the fireplace first then Grace and Draco followed shortly after. He got her onto his back again and they continued on.

Just when Draco thought he was going to fall asleep as well, a door in one of the houses ahead of them opened up and Hermione came out.

"Boy you look tired." She said, walking over to them.

"You too." Draco muttered.

"Well let's get her inside and onto something soft so that she can sleep properly." Hermione said. Draco and Remus followed her into the house. "Everyone else ran out to get what they could from the all night store a few blocks from here." Remus helped Draco lower Grace onto the couch and then they followed Hermione into the kitchen.

"Do you have anything she can wear?" Draco asked, looking at Hermione.

"She can borrow some of my stuff until we can get her some fitting stuff." Hermione said. Draco nodded. "I hope she's good with muggle stuff."

"Why…oh bloody hell don't tell me that…" Draco said.

"We're at my aunt's house." Hermione said. "And my aunt is a muggle." Hermione looked at Draco as if daring him to argue but he just sighed and nodded a bit before leaning back in his chair slightly to look through the doorway at Grace. "Did you talk to her?"

"Huh?" Draco asked, leaning forward and looking at Hermione.

"About what we told you." Hermione said.

"Oh…uh…no." Draco said. "I was too busy thinking about what Voldemort did to her."

"Yeah, those look bad." Hermione said, looking out at Grace. Remus went into the other room and started working on healing the wounds Snape didn't get to. Hermione looked at Draco and he looked back at her. Before either of them could say anything, the front door banged open and Ron's loud voice broke the silence.

"We tried to get what we needed but that place didn't have a lot and Harry says he sorta forgot how muggle money works." Remus jumped as Grace jumped and sat up. She took one look at the people entering the house and her surroundings…and then screamed. Draco, followed by Hermione, bolted out of the kitchen. Draco went straight to Grace and tried to calm her down.

"Hey, hey, hey…relax, relax." He said. He laid his hands gently on her upper arms. "Look at me…relax." Grace did what he said and she slowly calmed down.

"Alright then…" Ron said. Everyone watched Draco's face soften as he gave Grace a small smile. None of them had ever seen that look before. A round of introductions were made as everyone got over their shock and sat down around the two. It was obvious that Grace was uncomfortable. Everyone (minus Draco) was looking at her as if they expected something to happen.

"I think…" Hermione said, breaking the very awkward and uncomfortable silence. "That Grace should get washed up." Draco looked at her then at Grace. Grace looked at him as Hermione walked over and stood in front of them. Draco nodded his head at Hermione and then nodded at Grace who nodded back and stood up, allowing Hermione to take her hand and the two girls disappeared up to the second floor.

"Malfoy has told us a bit of what's happened to you." Hermione said, sitting on the counter by the bathroom sink while Grace stood in the shower and, more or less, just watched as the water ran over her body and washed all the filth off. She occasionally helped it by running her hands along her skin or through her hair.

"Oh…" Grace said.

"I'm not going to pry, Grace." Hermione said. "If you don't want to say anything then that's fine." She saw Grace nod her head behind the curtain. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen." Grace said.

"So am I." Hermione said. "As are Harry, Ron and Malfoy." She noticed that there was a reaction every time she said 'Malfoy'. Hermione lightly chewed on her lower lip and tried to think of a way to make the other girl calmer. "So…how long have you and…Draco, known each other?"

"Umm…a month…maybe?" Grace said. "I only saw him a few times before this." Hermione smiled slightly as she started getting more words out of her guest.

"Did you know what your father had done?" She asked.

"Not until the day Voldemort came." Grace said. "A month after his return, a week before my birthday."

"I'm sorry." Hermione said. "Do you…umm…were you happy with your parents?"

"They were great…I wish I could have told them that." Grace said. "I think I'm done now."

"Alright." Hermione said. Grace turned off the shower and Hermione handed a towel around the curtain. "I'll find you something to wear."

"Ok." Grace said. Hermione left and Grace stepped out of the tub. She looked at herself in the mirror. It had been a very long time since she had seen her reflection. She ran her fingers through her hair, having not seen it anything but a dark mess in a long time. Hermione knocked on the door and passed some clothes through it. Grace stopped looking at herself and took the clothes before changing and then allowing the other girl to work on her hair.

"Is there something like…wrong with her?" Ron asked.

"Well gee, she has been used as a torture toy but Merlin only knows how many death eaters for at least three years now." Draco said, glaring at him.

"No, I mean…she trusts you." Ron said.

"You're on thin ice, Weasley." Draco said.

"Oh really? What are you…" Ron started but shut up as Hermione came down the stairs followed by Grace. Draco, Harry and Ron's jaws all dropped as they saw her. Draco thought she looked pretty before but now she was downright beautiful. Her dark blonde hair was braided and over one shoulder. She was wearing a long sleeved dark blue shirt and faded blue jeans. Both seemed a bit too big for her but looked good. Her skin seemed even paler now that it was washed free of any dirt or dust that could have been on it.

She also looked extremely tired. Both girls rejoined the group and as soon as she sat down, her head fell onto Draco's shoulder. Also, his hand moved overtop of hers where it sat on her leg. Harry and Ron frowned at this. Hermione's attention was on the bird on Draco's hand.

"What did you do to get that?" She asked, pointing at his hand. Draco and Grace both looked at it then Grace lifted her other hand to put it by his, showing the bird on her hand as well.

"I promised her that I'd find a way to get her out of there." Draco said. "I guess birds represent freedom."

"Unbreakable vow?" Ron asked.

"No…close…but it doesn't involve the death of either person if it gets broken." Draco said.

"Wouldn't it have disappeared by now?" Harry asked.

"Maybe the promise hasn't been completely fulfilled." Remus said. Everyone looked at Grace only to see that she was asleep.

"I think if there's a way for Voldemort to re-capture her, then the promise can't be fulfilled." Draco said.

"Upstairs." Hermione said. "Any of the doors that are closed lead into bedrooms. Just pick one and she can stay there." Draco nodded as a way of thanks before carefully getting up, lifting Grace off the couch and then heading of the stairs. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"For what?" Ron asked.

"That Draco Malfoy actually cared about someone more then himself." Hermione said. Harry went to open his mouth and say something but decided against it. He actually knew that Draco cared about someone more then himself…his mother. He had seen the indecision across the young man's face as Dumbledore pleaded with him not to follow Voldemort. Harry just didn't know if it extended past family…and now he knew.

* * *

I really don't have anything to say here so…review please and thank you. 


	8. Wand Shopping

**Wand Shopping**

Draco/Grace stuff might not be happening for a while so don't hold your breath.

* * *

It took a few days for Grace to adjust. She woke up screaming the first day and it took Hermione two minutes of trying to calm her down before she gave in and opened the door to find Draco on the other side. He calmed the panicked girl in a minute and Grace apologized a few times. No one had yet to bring up the Elemental thing with her in the three days she had been with them.

On the fourth day, McGonagall came by the house and seemed slightly furious that no one had told her about the rescue plan and its success. She seemed more shocked and angry at the fact that Draco Malfoy was there, especially when it was now clear knowledge that Draco had been the one that was supposed to kill Dumbledore. Although seeing him sitting outside in a t-shirt (revealing no Dark Mark on his arm) and the close bond that was shared between him and Grace did lower McGonagall's temper a bit.

"He's the best at calming her." Harry said. "Hermione's getting better but Grace doesn't trust anyone apart from Draco."

"Seems reasonable." McGonagall said.

"Yeah that's…wait, what?" Harry asked.

"As far as I'm to understand, he's the only one she's known that hasn't tried to hurt her." McGonagall said.

"Yeah well…" Harry said. He frowned, not being able to think of anything.

"Am I also to understand that not one of you has either tried to find out if she is the Elemental or at least asked her about it?" McGonagall asked.

"Umm...no." Harry said. "None of us have been quite able to…get up the courage to ask about it. And since Malfoy doesn't seem up to it…" McGonagall sighed.

"Are they talking about me?" Grace asked, looking at Draco. Draco, who had been lounging on a chair with his hands behind his head and eyes closed, opened them up to look at her. She was sitting on the ground next to the chair, plucking the grass from the ground. She had been through the shower every day and had eaten quite a bit as well. Grace was beginning to look relatively human. Draco sat up a bit to see her better.

"Who?" He asked, finally.

"Them." Grace said, pointing at the door where Harry and McGonagall had been standing for the last ten or so minutes. Draco turned around in the chair to see them.

"Who knows." He said. "I honestly don't bloody well care what they're talking about." Grace smiled a bit.

"Why don't you like them?" She asked, looking down at the grass she was pulling out of the ground.

"Bad history." Draco said.

"Do you like anyone?" Grace asked, not looking up. Draco frowned and swung his legs over the side of the chair so that he was sitting next to Grace on a different level. He leaned forward a bit to look at her.

"I like you." Draco said. "Why else would I have done what I did?"

"I don't know." Grace said. "I worry too much."

"Well here's one less thing to worry about." Draco said. Grace looked up at him. "You don't have to worry about me not liking you or wanting you around because I always will. You, on the other hand, will probably eventually get bored of having me around." Grace smiled.

"I would not." She said.

"You would too." Draco said.

"Not!" Grace said.

"Too!" Draco said. Grace stuck her tongue out at him. "Too, too, too, too…" She jumped at him, tackling him off the chair and onto his back on the other side of it. From there, she went onto tickling him mercilessly while Harry and McGonagall stared in amazement and Draco laughed so hard he could barely move.

"Oh so you're ticklish." Grace said, stopping her attack and sitting back just above Draco's knees. He took a few seconds to calm and he mock glared at her.

"Curse you…you discovered my weakness." Draco said. Grace laughed and leaned forward. Draco froze but she just lay down next to him on the grass. He relaxed and looked over at where Harry and McGonagall were still stared at them. "That's the most outgoing I've ever seen you be." He looked down at Grace as she lifted her head to look at him. "This mean you're relaxing more now? Less jumpy?" Grace nodded and rolled from her side to her back, staring up at the big fluffy clouds above them. "Do you know what Elementals are?"

"Sure, witch, wizard or muggle who has command over a certain element." Grace said. Draco blinked and stared at her. "I think someone in my family was one." She looked back up at Draco. "Why do you ask?"

"Uh…just…curious." Draco asked.

"I had to do a project on them the last time I was in school." Grace said. "Most common elementals have control over either Earth, Air, Fire or Water."

"I'm gonna get a drink…want anything?" Draco asked, sitting up.

"No, I'm ok." Grace said, as Draco stood up. He went over to Harry and McGonagall and pulled both of them into the kitchen where they could still watch Grace through a window.

"She knows what Elementals are." Draco said. "But doesn't seem like she knows that she is one."

"How can you not know this stuff?" Harry asked.

"Probably the same way you didn't know that you were a bleeding wizard until the groundskeeper got you." Draco said, harshly.

"Don't start with me Malfoy." Harry said.

"Enough." McGonagall said, stepping between them. "I suggest you two learn to co-operate. We may not be at school anymore but…"

"I get it." Draco said, rolling his eyes. He grabbed a bottle of butter beer from the fridge and went back outside.

"I know there is history between the two of you." McGonagall said. "But…if you ever plan to gain this girl's trust, you'll have to put your differences with Mr. Malfoy aside."

"Yeah…that'll happen." Harry said. McGonagall gave him a sharp look. "Try to promise to try to try."

"I hope that made sense to you." McGonagall said.

"Just means that I can't promise to try…or try to try." Harry said. "But I can try to try to…ok now it's not making sense to me." A small smile crossed the old professor's face.

--------

"I find myself at a loss of words." Voldemort said. Snape stood before him in the empty stone room Grace had been kept in. "I come to vent my anger and find that something has happened to my prisoner. And the one I have assigned to keep an eye on her…has not one idea of where she could be."

"Yes, my lord." Snape said, looking at the ground.

"For your sake, Severus…she best not have gotten far." Voldemort said. "And she better not find out what she is." He swept past the ex-professor and out the door. Snape left shortly after and headed straight for Draco's room. Upon entry he noticed that the bed was still made (with a slight disturbance to one part as if someone had sat there) and that the window was wide open. Upon closer inspection, he found a few small spots of blood on the bed.

With that discovery, he knew exactly what had happened. And with that knowledge, he smiled ever so slightly.

--------

"Are you ok?" Grace asked. "You have that whole 'I want to tell you something but not sure how' look."

"You can tell just by the look?" Draco asked. Grace shrugged. There was silence for a while before Draco sighed. "Ok, remember when I asked you about knowing Elementals?"

"Yeah…you did it just a few minutes ago." Grace said.

"Right…" Draco said. Grace blinked and tilted her head as she watched him. "Umm…everyone kinda has this idea that…maybe…you're an Elemental." Grace blinked again and stared at him blankly. "Not really just any Elemental but…uh…one that is…all four elements." Draco was getting slightly unnerved by Grace's constant blank stares. "You do know that you can say something…right?"

"How can I be an Elemental?" Grace asked. "Wouldn't I have known? Wouldn't…wouldn't my parents have told me something?"

"According to all of them, both your parents were in command of two elements…so yeah, they should have." Draco said. To his dismay, Grace started to cry. "Bloody hell, shouldn't have said that. Grace I'm sorry." He shuffled closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Grace come on. I don't know what to do in situations like this." He didn't know if Grace laughed at that or cried even more but her head dropped so that he couldn't see her face. "Fuck, I'm messing this up so much." This time he knew Grace laughed because she raised her head with a smile.

"You're really bad at this, you know that." She said, laughing and crying.

"Yeah I know…but I did manage to make you laugh so…good job me." Draco said, grinning and patting himself on the back. Grace laughed more and wiped the tears off her face.

"Excuse me, Mr. Malfoy." Both of them looked up at McGonagall standing over them. "I believe it is time."

"Time for what?" Draco asked.

"Well we must get this young lady a wand." McGonagall said.

"But…you can't go." Grace said, looking at Draco. "You'll get in a lot of trouble for what you did."

"Granger will go with you, right?" Draco said, looking at McGonagall. Grace looked confused. "Oh…uh…Hermione."

"Oh…ok, I guess." Grace said.

"You like Hermione." Draco said. Grace smiled a bit and nodded. Over the past couple of days, Hermione had worked to become Grace's friend and it seemed an almost easy task since they had something in common: the lose of their parents. Grace had told Hermione quite a few things to help her out with the sadness.

"Ok then." She said. She stood up and went inside.

"Do not worry, Mr. Malfoy. She will remain safe with us." McGonagall said. "She might be an Elemental but until she knows and controls her powers, she's going to need a wand to defend herself. I expect you, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley will be willing to teach her what she needs to know in order to catch her up on what she's missed."

"Of course." Draco said, nodding. He couldn't help but worry as he watched McGonagall go inside and join Grace and Hermione.

"It's so…grey." Grace said. "It hasn't always been this way."

"No…this is You-know-who's affect." Hermione said. "Since the world has accepted his return, everything's been a bit darker. Everyone's been on high alert." She linked arms with Grace and felt the other girl relax slightly. The whole wizarding world wasn't the only thing that was high strung at the moment.

"Here we are." McGonagall said, stopping in front of Olivander's.

"I don't have money." Grace said, suddenly.

"Do not worry about it, dear." McGonagall said. The three women stepped into the shop.

"Ah, Professor McGonagall." Olivander said, coming out from a back area. "What brings you here on a school day?"

"We need to purchase a wand for this young lady." McGonagall said. Olivander looked at Grace and she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, trying very hard to avoid it.

"Hmm…yes, yes…let's see. Come over here my dear." Olivander said. Hermione gave Grace a slight shove and reluctantly, Grace stepped forward. She went from cautious to annoyed within a few minutes as she was measured and then handed wand after wand after wand. McGonagall had sat down and pulled out a book while Hermione was leaning against a wall next to a bunch of wand boxes.

"This is so annoying!" Grace whined. Hermione smiled slightly as the girl was relaxing more and acting like other teenagers.

"Alright, alright here…try this. Unicorn hair, yew, 9 inches long…" Olivander said. Grace rolled her eyes and took the wand. She felt a weird tingling sensation in her fingers and smiled. "Lovely!!" McGonagall told the girls to wait outside and they did, Grace still examining her wand.

"My last wand was unicorn hair…I don't remember anything else about it though." She said. Hermione smiled at her.

"Do you think McGonagall will let us go see Fred and George?" She asked.

"Who are they?" Grace asked.

"Ron's brothers." Hermione said. "Two of them anyways. They own a joke shop up the street."

"Wow." Grace said. McGonagall joined them after a minute and Grace put her wand away. Hermione asked about visiting Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and McGonagall, obviously disapproving, nonetheless agreed. Hermione held onto Grace's hand as they went into the crowd of Hogwarts students inside the shop.

"Oy, Granger, over here." Hermione pulled Grace over to where George was. "You looked like a squashed dung beetle in that crowd."

"Gee, thanks." Hermione said, releasing Grace's hand and crossing her arms. "So I see business is as good as always."

"Booming." George said. "Really must thank old moldy shorts…if it wasn't for him causing so much unhappiness leading people to want some brilliant prank or another to lighten things up…we might not be doing so well." Hermione gave him a disapproving look.

"Oh…by the way…this is…" She said, looking to her side where Grace was…only to find her not there. "Oh no."

"What?" George asked.

"Well the girl I came in with…she's gone." Hermione said.

"She's probably found something interesting." George said.

"No you don't get it." Hermione said. She leaned closer to George. "You-know-who's after her. He's kept her captive for years and if McGonagall or Malfoy finds out I've lost her…"

"Malfoy?" George asked, sneering. "What's it matter to him?"

"You don't understand." Hermione said. "She and him are so close…I don't have time to explain and I can't explain it here. We have to find her."

"Ok, ok." George said. "I'll get Fred to look out for her." Hermione nodded and squeezed her way back into the crowd. George told Fred what Grace looked like and the two joined in. George looked around the front then went into the back. It took a few minutes but he found her back there. "Oy, what are you doing back here?"

"Umm…sorry…there was something back here that caught my attention and I…sorry." Grace said. George sighed.

"Don't worry about it." He said. "What was it that caught your attention?"

"I don't know." Grace said. "It kinda sparkled but it just…vanished when I got back here…and I couldn't figure out…" George frowned. They didn't have anything that vanished…well…nothing that sparkled then vanished.

"Come on…let's get you back to Hermione before her head blows up in worry." George said. He put his arm around Grace's shoulders and she jumped away from him. George looked at her with a curious expression before holding out his hand. It took a few seconds but she finally slid her hand into his and he led her out of the back...just as the rat with the amulet around it's neck scurried out of the shadows and through a hole in the wall.

"Thank you so much." Hermione said, acting like a mother who had just lost her three year old.

"No problem, but you realize there is quite a bit of explaining to do right?" George said. Fred crossed his arms as the twins stood in front of Hermione and Grace.

"Yes, I know." Hermione said. "Come by my aunt's house sometime and I'll explain then."

"Alright then." Fred said. "We'll hold you to it."

"Just don't be surprised by what you see." Hermione said.

--------

"Here it is, my lord." Wormtail said, holding out the amulet he had taken from the shop.

"Good." Voldemort said. He turned to the rest of his followers. "Does anyone know what this does?" He held up the amulet. No one answered him. Snape knew very well what it was for he knew exactly what Fred and George Weasley were capable of creating. But it wasn't as if he was going to speak up. He knew Voldemort was planning to use it on Grace…or Harry. At that moment the ex-professor wasn't quite sure which one Voldemort wanted more. But he did know that the Dark Lord was very bound and determined to get what he wanted and the amulet he held was his key to doing so.

* * *

So what do you think it does? Whoever guesses this one right, gets to find out what I have planned for further chapters and have an input on what should go in or not. 


	9. Here For You

**Here for You**

I can't believe how much I'm drawing out the attraction stuff between Grace and Draco. Lol…well let's see how much longer I can do it.

* * *

"Ow…ow…ow." Draco said.

"Sorry." Grace said, for what seemed like the twentieth time in the last ten minutes. As soon as she, Hermione and McGonagall got back the boys decided it was time to start teaching her stuff. And, like Hermione, Grace turned out to be pretty good on her first tries. Although she had accidentally given Draco a few wounds (which made Ron and Harry like her more).

"Not really your fault, stop saying that." Draco said.

"Well it is my fault because I'm putting pressure on everything that hurts." Grace said. Draco winced as she pressed the cloth against one of the cuts he had on his arm caused by her. "Big baby."

"Oy! I am not a baby." Draco said. Grace just grinned at him. "Granger…tell her I'm not a baby."

"Sadly enough, I have to agree with him." Hermione said.

"See…" Draco said.

"But he does whine like a girl sometimes." Hermione said. Ron and Harry roared with laughter and fell over. Hermione smirked at Draco as he glared at her. "Maybe we should stop the training for today."

"Brilliant plan." Draco said. Grace looked down at her crossed legs. She winced and slid one hand around her wrist as it suddenly started to burn. She had never felt this before so wasn't prepared for it. No one seemed to notice though as Draco began to argue with Harry, Ron and Hermione about something. He left her side to get up in their faces.

Grace felt just about ready to cut her hand off if she thought it would get rid of the pain. Sure, she had been through stuff, worse then this, but this was more concentrated to one area so it felt worse then all over pain. She squeezed her wrist until her fingertips went numb but that did nothing to minimize the pain.

"Hey…are you alright?" Harry suddenly asked. Grace was unaware of whimpering until then. Within no time, all four of the arguing teens had shut up and were surrounding her. Hermione put her hand on Grace's shoulder to stop her from rocking. Draco looked down at her hands before reaching forward and gently trying to pry them apart.

"Grace…" He said.

"It hurts." Grace said.

"I know, but you have to let go." Draco said. "We have to see what's wrong." He managed to pull her fingers off her wrist and turned it around. The dark mark on her wrist had changed to a dark red and looked as if it was moving…either that or Grace was shaking too much. Draco barely rested his finger over the mark and Grace tugged her hand out of his grasp, yelping.

"Has this ever happened before?" Ron asked.

"Not that I'm aware of." Draco said. Grace shook her head.

It was painful having to watch her go through that. None of them knew what to do to help her. She wouldn't let anyone near her after Draco had tried again. She remained in pain for the rest of the day. Draco convinced Hermione to switch rooms with him so that he could stay with Grace that night. By that time, either Grace was used to the pain in her wrist or it had numbed the whole area. She stopped whimpering and rocking and just sat, looking quite blankly at nothing, on her bed. Draco sat next to her but said and did nothing. She finally fell asleep just after midnight, leaning against Draco. He remained awake the entire night.

It was almost noon before someone came to check on them. It was Ron. Draco looked up from the book he had been reading all night long. Grace was now lying down, curled up.

"Mione thought you could use something to eat." Ron said, stepping into the room with a tray full of stuff hovering in front of him.

"Thanks." Draco said.

"Did you even sleep?" Ron asked. "You look bloody awful."

"Thanks." Draco repeated, sarcastically this time.

"Listen…how bout you eat then sleep and someone else can watch her." Ron said. Draco shook his head and grabbed the tray out of the air, putting it down next to him. Ron, knowing that he was bound to start something, left the room and went downstairs.

"He didn't sleep." Hermione said.

"Nope." Ron said. "I tried being nice."

"I know." Hermione said. "Thanks."

"You're acting like you're worried about Malfoy." Harry said. Hermione just shrugged and looked down at her paper. "You are!"

"I'm worried about Grace." Hermione said. "And worrying about Grace ties in with worrying about Malfoy because I can't see a way around not worrying about both of them. It can't be one or the other."

"Sure it can." Ron said.

"We do it." Both boys said.

"Don't you worry that if Malfoy is too tired to help her then Grace will panic and we'll probably never calm her down?" Hermione asked. The boys sighed and nodded in agreement. "He has to be alright in order to keep Grace happy. If he can make her believe everything is ok then she'll relax more. But if he's too tired or worn out or…something…then she'll begin to worry."

"I hate when you make sense." Ron said, sitting next to her.

"Great…now we have to worry about Malfoy." Harry said. Hermione shook her head.

Draco looked over at Grace as she stretched out from her curled up position then winced and slapped a hand over her wrist as she opened her eyes. She sat up and gingerly pulled her hand away from her wrist. The whole area around the mark was red and the mark itself still seemed to throb.

"Still hurting?" Draco asked.

"A bit." Grace said. "Kinda like that feeling you have one you walk and your foot was numb and then each step feels like a hundred little needles."

"Umm…ok." Draco said.

"Never had that?" Grace asked.

"Not that I can remember." Draco said.

"Oh…well…umm…never mind then." Grace said. Draco just grinned a bit then offered the tray of food.

"Weasley brought it up." He said.

"Ok." Grace said, reaching forward and picking up some before putting it in her mouth. They ate silently before Draco suggested that Grace go down and join the others so that he could take a shower.

"Hi, how are you feeling?" Hermione asked, spotting Grace walking down the stairs. She gave the trio the same analogy she gave Draco and they all nodded, knowing the feeling.

"I think Ron's suffering it right now." Harry said. Ron glared at him and threw a pillow at his friend as he tried to stand on his foot that had fallen asleep. Grace smiled a bit and brought the tray she carried into the kitchen.

"Is there something you'd like to do today?" Hermione asked.

"Umm…not really." Grace said.

"Well we still have to do more training so that you're caught up with us…" Ron said. Grace sighed and nodded. They trooped out to the backyard and Harry, having experience already in most of what was needed, walked around Grace and Ron who were standing in front of each other. He started explaining what they had to do and Hermione threw in a few pointers.

"Alright…let's see what you can do now." Harry said. Grace and Ron took dueling positions. Ron did a spell first that wound up throwing Grace backwards. Her wand flew from her hand and Hermione jumped up, as if to help her, but Harry stopped her. Grace stood up with a new look on her face…anger. They had never seen that from her before. Something cracked like a whip and Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked over at the tree to see the branches moving as if they were just as angry as Grace.

"Umm…what's going on?" Ron asked. Draco came outside at that moment but stopped and leaned against the doorframe.

"That…hurt." Grace said, just before a branch shot out and grabbed Ron's ankle. He yelled as he was pulled off his feet, dragged across the ground, then lifted into the air and shaken. Draco watched, looking a bit amused as the water from the pool seemed to gather into the shape of a hand and climb up to grab hold of the screaming Weasley. Ron was yanked down into the pool with hardly a splash. Grace collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Draco walked over to her and helped her up as Harry and Hermione rushed over to the pool to help Ron out.

"That…was not funny." Ron sputtered, coming out of the water looking like a drowned rat.

"I'm sorry." Grace said. "I…I didn't mean to…I have no idea how…"

"We do." Hermione said. "You are an Elemental."

"That was the first time…" Grace said. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Ron said, taking heed of the warning glare Hermione was giving him. "I'm just not partnering with you again when it comes to training."

"Consider that to be a good thing." Draco said. Grace nodded and giggled. Draco smiled and Ron glared at him.

"Don't even…" Hermione said, holding out a hand to Ron to stop the inevitable argument. "Wait a minute…" She dropped her hand and Ron raised an eyebrow. Hermione looked at Draco and Grace before looking back at her boyfriend. "Get her mad."

"What?" Ron asked, his eyes widening. "Why me?"

"Because you're already half way there." Hermione said. Ron looked ready to cry at the inevitable pain he was going to receive.

"Malfoy you're a bloody prick you know that?" He said. "I don't care if you were trying to make her feel better."

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you now, Weasley?" Draco asked. "Got water in your brain now?" Grace started looking uncomfortable. Draco and Ron advanced on each other.

"No but I think you got bubbles in yours." Ron said, suddenly forgetting why he was doing this in the first place.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Draco asked.

"Because…because you do!" Ron said. It was lame, but it was the only thing he could think of.

"You're on mighty thin ice here, Weasley." Draco said, reaching for his wand. Both guys jumped and yelled as fire suddenly flew at them. They both looked over at Grace as she stood where Draco left her, looking pretty angry. Even from the distance they could tell that her eyes were no longer the soft blue colour but more of a fiery red. Grace turned her eyes on Hermione and the other girl took an involuntary step back.

"Don't…do this…again." She said, suddenly reminding all of them of Voldemort. She stomped off into the house.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Draco asked.

"I…I told Ron to try and get her mad." Hermione said.

"Well congratulations, she's mad." Draco said.

"Did anyone else think she acted like Voldemort just now?" Harry asked.

"I guess spending three years dealing with his anger makes you do that." Draco said.

The three boys sat in the living room half an hour later while Hermione tried once more to get Grace to talk to her. Everyone but Draco had tried at least twice now. He had sat down and ignored them. No one could Grace to say anything and they couldn't get into the room which was starting to worry them.

"Draco please go talk to her." Hermione said, coming down. "She'll at least respond to you so then we'll know she's in there."

"Like she'd be willing to sneak out of here when she doesn't have a bloody clue as to where she is?" Draco asked, looking up at her, his arms crossed and feet on the coffee table in front of him.

"Please." Hermione pleaded. Draco sighed and rolled his eyes. He dropped his feet, uncrossed his arms and stood up. He knew that Grace was in her room and he knew that she was more then likely still angry. Maybe not at what had just been going on but she probably was still pissed.

"Grace." Draco said, knocking on her door. There was no answer. "Grace? Come on, I know you're in there."

"Go away." Grace replied. Draco smiled slightly.

"Come on now…let me in." He said, testing the doorknob. It didn't move.

"I told you to go away." Grace said.

"Bloody hell, just open the damn door." Draco said.

"Why?" Grace asked.

"I find it better to apologize in person instead of to a door." Draco said. He waited a few seconds then tested the knob again. This time it turned smoothly and the door opened.

"You don't apologize." Grace said, sitting on the bed with arms and legs crossed.

"Yeah I know." Draco said, walking into the room and closing the door behind him. "But I'm going to." Grace uncrossed her arms and shuffled to the edge of the bed, letting her feet and legs over the side. "I'm sorry for what happened down there. I didn't mean to but me and them…we don't mix. Been fighting each other since first year and only made it worse in sixth year."

"Why?" Grace asked.

"Voldemort told me to kill Dumbledore." Draco said. Grace's eyes flew wide open. "I didn't…I couldn't."

"But he is dead." Grace said. Draco nodded. "Who?" Draco didn't say anything. Grace looked at her knees.

"You sort of scared us." Draco said. She looked back up at him. "What you said before you stormed into here. You reminded us of Voldemort."

"I'm sorry." Grace said.

"You've had three years of him taking out his anger on you." Draco said, moving across the room and sitting next to her on the bed. "Didn't expect you to not behave somewhat like him."

"If that's the case then I should be acting like your father pretty soon." Grace said.

"Merlin, I hope not." Draco said. "I like you too much for that." Grace looked at him as he smiled softly. "I really do…like you. You've given me a reason to wanna stick around for this whole big fight. Hell I probably wouldn't even be around if it weren't for meeting you."

"Were you going to…?" Grace asked but not quite getting the words out.

"Thought about it a few times." Draco said. "I'm not strong like you. After a few weeks of just Voldemort tormenting me, I was ready to call it quits. I just couldn't do that to my mother."

"I'm not strong." Grace said, shaking her head.

"Yeah you are." Draco said. "Three years…you were there with Merlin only knows how many Death Eaters using you…but you still survived. You're still here." Draco's voice grew softer. "Even though you didn't think you'd get out of there. You still lasted. I don't think there's many people out there would have managed that. They would have dyed off long ago or turned into some non responsive zombie type thing."

"I was…" Grace said.

"No you weren't." Draco said. "You reacted to Snape. You reacted to me. You didn't even know me, just knew my father, yet you were barely afraid of me." Grace looked down at how close Draco's thigh was to her own. During his little talk, he had moved closer. Her eyes moved up over his body, to his face, which was also close. She almost had to cross her eyes to see him properly.

"I was afraid of you…at first." Grace said.

"Didn't take you long to realize that I wasn't my father though." Draco said. "I think that's what made me stay. Knowing that there was someone…" Grace didn't even realize she was holding her breath at that moment. They were so close…just a little movement and…

There was a knock on the door and both of them jumped away from each other. The doorknob turned and the door opened very slowly to reveal Hermione on the other side.

"Umm…we're going to be having dinner soon." She said. "I just thought you two would like to know."

"Thanks." Grace said, quietly. Hermione nodded and closed the door again. There was silence in the room as each of them contemplated what would have happened if the Gryffindor hadn't shown up.

* * *

Oh so close. I'm debating on whether or not to actually let them kiss before the whole fighting stuff happens. I know there will be cheek kisses and forehead kisses and a few others that don't overly mean too much. 


	10. Into the Cold

**Into the Cold**

Well then I guess the very obvious attraction is going to go in a very obvious direction. Let the kissing begin!!!

* * *

For the next two weeks, different members of the order arrived and each had something new to teach them. Most of them were reluctant about having Draco apart of any of it but no one said anything once Grace made it quite clear that she wouldn't do as they asked unless he was there. She struck up the good argument that if Draco had risked his life, not only to visit her when he did, but also to get her out of there and (just recently) start joining on the walks Grace and Hermione took, then he surely wasn't one of the Death Eaters.

They had trained her with wands and, after a bit of research, had begun training her Elemental powers. It was hard to get them to come out when she wasn't extremely angry. They had to track down and capture a boggart and tell Grace to pretend that it was Voldemort. More often then not, however, it transformed into Lucius Malfoy. That little matter caused some questions as to why, if Grace was so terrified or most angry with the elder Malfoy, then why she didn't trust the younger one so much?

After a while, Harry and Ron, along with a few other members of the Order, went off in search for the hercruxes. Grace had grown to like Harry a bit so it was sad to know that she wasn't going to see him every day. Ron…well…with all the fights he started with Draco, she wasn't overly fond of him but she did like him just a little bit.

By the end of the second week it had begun to snow and so training times were cut short and the time spent indoors was becoming more and more. Draco still slept in the same room as Grace and no one had any objects to it since he was able to keep her feeling calm and relatively safe. So when Draco woke up one day to a snow storm outside and completely alone in the room, it was only right for him to feel a slight panic.

"Grace!" He called, hopping out of his bed and running out of the room. He searched the upper level but to no avail. Slight panic increased to mild panic as he ran down the stairs…

And froze as he saw her, unharmed and even happy looking as she walked around in the kitchen, taking different things from the fridge to add to the breakfast she was cooking on the stove. Draco breathed a sigh of relief as he walked into the kitchen. Grace looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back and looked at the frying pan. Small flames licked at the bottom of it. His eyes turned to the dials that he had seen Hermione use to control the heat…only to find none of them on.

"Did you use a spell?" Draco asked.

"No." Grace said.

"Charm?" Draco asked.

"No." Grace said, her smile growing as she used the spatula to move the little sausages around on the pan.

"Then why is it cooking?" Draco asked.

"I think I'm getting a hang of this Elemental stuff." Grace said. Draco looked confused before he suddenly smiled, realizing what she was saying. She was using her fire power to cook up the meal.

"That's good then." Draco said.

"You realise we've been here for about three weeks and, apart from those few times the mark felt like it was on fire, there's really been nothing." Grace said. Draco stood next to her and watched her cook. She was right. It was almost as if they, as Harry had said, had fallen off the radar. Draco knew, however, that it was only a matter of time. Grace leaned closer to him to grab something and it was only then that he noticed he had put his arm around her waist. Either Grace hadn't noticed (highly unlikely though) or she didn't care. Either way Draco felt no need to remove it.

"Where is everyone?" He asked, suddenly noticing their lack of company.

"Hermione said she was going to headquarters." Grace said. "She said she'd probably be there all day. And Ron and Harry are already gone and will be for a while…"

"Oh so we have the place all to ourselves do we?" Draco asked. Grace giggled and nodded. "We should take advantage of this."

After breakfast they went out into the backyard and had a snowball fight. That stopped once Grace figured out how to use her Elemental powers to her advantage with it but accidentally hit Draco in the head with an ice ball. He didn't get mad at her though but decided that the fight should probably stop there. They retired into the house where, first Grace then Draco, changed into warmer clothes then lit a fire in the fireplace and sat together on the couch. Grace decided to read Hermione's copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ to find out more about the school. Draco picked up the newspaper and read that for all of three minutes before he turned his attention to Grace. She was curled up against him. Her feet were tucked up under her and she was leaning against Draco as she read the book. He wondered if this was what she was like before Voldemort took her.

Then some cold terrible feeling hit him. What if they were playing right into Voldemort's hands? Sure…teaching Grace to use her powers and a wand was a smart idea but what if it was what Voldemort wanted? No one really knew the extend of his control over her. Draco could tell that there was some control over her, whether powerful or not, it was there. What if he could just snap his fingers and…

"Draco?" Grace asked, quietly. Draco shook his head and looked at her. She was no longer leaning against him but on her hands and knees beside him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just thinking." Draco said. Grace tilted her head. "You know you're looking good?" He ran his hand through her hair. "You…you look…umm…"

"Human?" Grace suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Draco said. Grace smiled and sat back down again.

"I feel like it now." She said. "I never thought I would ever again. But I do. And it's all thanks to you."

"Me?" Draco asked.

"Yeah. You were the one that was my friend." Grace said. "You vowed to help me. You vowed to protect me and set me free from there. So it's because of you that I'm…human."

"Oh…" Draco said.

"Thank you." Grace said, softly. She hesitated for a second before leaning closer and pressing her lips to his. She had never been like this, choosing rather to ignore the boys at school while she was there. She had only ever been kissed by two boys even though she had gone through more with the Death Eaters. Voldemort made sure to rid her of the one thing she valued so much at the time of her capture.

Her eyes flew open as she felt Draco move closer to her, pressing his lips gently closer as well. Her eyes closed soon after as her hand lifted up to rest on his cheek. Draco's hand moved across her body to her opposite hip. Neither of them heard the door open, the little gasp, and the door closing. They pulled apart and Draco looked at her uncertainly before Grace managed a shy little smile and Draco smiled back at her.

"When did you say Granger was due back?" He asked.

"I don't know." Grace said. Draco looked over at the clock then back at Grace and kissed her forehead.

"Should probably think up something for dinner." He said. He started to stand but Grace held him down and shifted closer to him.

"You don't sleep too much." She said. "Sleep now."

"I'm good." Draco said.

"Do it." Grace said. She leaned against him again. Draco sighed, figuring he had no way out of this. He closed his eyes after draping an around over Grace's shoulders. He was asleep pretty quickly and Grace soon fell asleep after.

Hermione opened the door carefully and peeked inside. She sighed in relief when she found the two just sleeping instead of kissing. She really didn't want in on that a second time. Closing the door carefully behind her, she took off her scarf, hat, mitts, coat and boots before walking across the room and going into the kitchen to start up dinner.

* * *

I know, it's short, but I couldn't really think of too much. I kinda don't want the fighting to start yet so I don't really know what to do next chapter. 


	11. Invasion

**Invasion**

Ok…so while I was at work my mom bought me the final book (July 21) and I've already read the first fourteen chapters, take into consideration that I had sleeping, working, relative visiting and writing this chapter between the readings. I'm pacing myself so for those people who can finish these books in a single day and that also read this story

DO NOT TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS!!!!!

I got that with my last Harry Potter story that I was writing when the sixth book came out and someone decided to spill everything for me. So please, please, please don't tell me anything. I already know that one of the rumours isn't true (I peeked at the last page like I usually do) so don't bother telling me stuff.

* * *

Grace shivered and slid a bit closer to Draco who ever so casually lifted his arm and draped it over her shoulders. Six sets of eyes watched this and all but one pair of eyebrows rose in curiosity but not one mouth opened to say anything.

"So did you guys find anything?" Hermione asked.

"Yes…but blimey, was it hard." Ron said. He looked down at the ring now adorning one of Harry's fingers. "I think Voldemort has a secret feminine side."

"Why?" Grace asked.

"Because so far most of the horcruxes have been some kind of jewellery." Harry said.

(((A/N: Again, I haven't gotten far in the book so I really don't know too much of anything. I also realized I spelt it wrong in the last chapter.)))

Grace giggled and glanced backwards at the three Order members following them. It was almost as if they were a group of celebrities, which was almost true. Harry was, sorta. Hermione and Ron weren't really in as much danger as Harry, Draco and Grace but they still were. The girls refused to give up on their walks though and Draco had started being much more protective of Grace then he had been before Harry and Ron left. The two boys didn't fail to notice this, especially now as the blonde haired boy, with his hood pulled up enough to hide the majority of his face, held quite the protective, if not possessive, arm over the girl.

"Remus, Tonks and Fleur." Ron muttered, glancing back at their guard as well. "I'm surprised we were able to get Fleur and Bill apart." As soon as Fleur and Grace saw each other, they both squealed and hugged each other. Fleur babbling on about how she thought Grace was dead and Grace somehow explaining about where she was. Fleur then got angry at Harry and Ron for not telling her that the Elemental everyone was talking about was Grace. Truth be told though, they weren't overly close but they had known each other and had been somewhat friends.

Surprising Harry, Ron, Hermione and even Draco, Grace quickly got into a conversation with Fleur…in French. They had started in English but soon were blabbering in French for at least an hour before Grace blushed as she noticed everyone watching and muttered an apology.

That was before the walk took place and now Grace was happily walking with the other four. Draco looked down at Grace as she reached up a blue gloved hand to take hold of the black one draped over her shoulders. It was weird how almost everything about her, now anyways, was bright…cheerful even, and she was with him, of all people. It made no sense to Draco but he didn't want to argue it. At that moment Grace was dressed in a blue coat, grey scarf and blue hat that went rather beautifully with her hair and eyes. Her jeans were light coloured but darker on the bottom because of the snow. The only thing that really was any kind of dark about her were her boots, which were black.

"Hey…how about we drop the guard?" Ron suggested, quietly.

"Ron…" Hermione said, getting ready to argue with him.

"Sounds like an idea." Draco said. Ron looked surprised that the blonde was agreeing with him.

"Seems…ok." Harry said. "What do you think Grace?"

"Umm…sure." Grace said. It proved to be pretty easy to ditch Remus, Tonks and Fleur. The three were barely even paying attention to the teenagers. Once that task was accomplished, the five of them walked around and got to a school yard. Grace released Draco's hand and stepped away from him and the others, putting herself roughly in the centre of the field.

"I think winter holidays have probably started already." Hermione said.

"Shh…" Grace said. The other four stiffened slightly but didn't hear anything.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Nothing…but still…shh." Grace said. "Listen." Draco, Harry, Hermione and Ron all looked around, curious.

"I don't hear anything but the snow." Ron said.

"Exactly." Grace said.

"You want us to listen to the snow??" Harry asked. Grace nodded and lifted her face and hands to the sky. "Is this an Elemental thing?"

"No." Hermione said, smiling. "It's one of those 'it's so simple it's beautiful' kind of thing. It's the beauty of nature. The idea that things are so calm and quiet, you can hear something as soft as the snow fall."

"Alright, honestly, is there anything you don't know?" Ron asked. Next second he was hit in the side of the face with a snowball. Draco chuckled as Grace wiped the snow off her gloves. "Did you really just do that?"

"Uh huh." Grace said, smiling. She yelped and jumped to the side as Ron threw a snowball back at her.

"Careful Weasley." Draco said. "She can throw ice balls and they hurt." Ron raised an eyebrow. Harry grinned as he watched Grace spread her fingers and turned them in a circle, causing the falling snow to gather into a ball in front of her. It glittered and, with a flick of the wrist, Grace sent it at Ron, hitting him in the leg.

"Oy!" Ron said. "That hurt!"

"Told ya so." Draco said.

"Alright Ferret boy, it's on." Ron said, grabbing a bunch of snow and not even bothering to pack it into a ball before dumping it on Draco's head. Grace threw another snowball, this time aiming for Harry. He mock glared at her before throwing a snowball at Hermione. Everyone got into a giant snow fight. Grace ran over to be closer to them. Snow was thrown and kicked at each other, yells of mock fright and battle cries were heard (at least from the boys). Draco's hood was knocked back, snow was dumped down Hermione's and Ron's jackets. Harry had to put his glasses in his pocket to avoid losing them and Grace's hat was knocked off her head.

"I'm done." Grace said, dropping to the ground and lying down. Draco followed suit, lying with his head by hers. Ron and Harry sat down on the ground and Hermione sat on one of Ron's legs. All five teens were breathing heavily. The snow drifted down silently on top of them and, once they had all regained their breath, the boys finally understood the beauty that Hermione was talking about. Something as simple as snow falling was as beautiful as certain girls to certain boys.

"You girls are right." Ron said.

"About what?" Grace asked.

"The snow thing." Ron said.

"Yeah…" Grace said, blinking as a snow flake fell on the corner of her eye. "I wish this could last forever."

"Not having to worry about fights." Hermione said.

"Or Horcruxes." Harry said.

"Or Voldemort." Draco and Ron said together. The two boys looked at each other. Grace sat up then stood up.

"Where you going?" Draco asked, turning his head to follow her.

"Over to get my hat." Grace said, pointing to where her hat lay a few feet away. Draco sighed and sat up. Grace picked up her hat and brushed the snow off it and her hair before putting it back on her head. Harry stood up before the others did as Grace turned back to them. She barely had taken five steps before she flinched and her hand slapped over her wrist. Harry did the same, except his hand slapped over his forehead. The other three were up in an instant and Draco was at Grace's side.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked, looking at Harry.

"I don't know." Harry said. The cold increased and everyone looked at each other.

"Dementors." Draco said.

"Very good…" Voldemort said, slowly. He and a bunch of dementors seemed to appear out of no where. Four wands were out within a second. Harry was able to ignore the pain in his forehead but Grace couldn't seem to release her wrist to pull out her own wand. Draco pushed Grace near Harry and stood with Ron and Hermione as a sort of shield. "You children are rather amusing. You think you can fight against me? And you…" Voldemort turned his red eyes on Draco. "What do you think you are doing? I own you."

"Says you." Draco said.

"Well it doesn't appear to be hard to get any of you to bend now." Voldemort said. He raised his hand and turned it, closing his fingers around air as he did. Grace cried and dropped to her knees. Draco, Harry, Hermione and Ron were pretty sure that her knuckles were white from holding her wrist so tightly, even if they couldn't see through the glove.

"Stop it!" Harry said.

"Why should I?" Voldemort asked. "She belongs to me. That mark on her wrist is proof. You children, most of you…" His eyes rested on Draco again. "Believe in returning things to their owners don't you?"

"So you can what? Torture her some more?" Ron asked. "Not bloody likely." He rose his wand up higher.

"Fools." Voldemort said. His long white fingers snapped and the dementors flew forward.

"Happy thoughts!" Harry said. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!!" The silver stag burst from his wand.

"Expecto patronum!" Hermione copied. Her otter came forward. Ron was having a harder time with it and Draco didn't even know what they were doing.

"Mal…uh…Draco, think of something good…happy…and use that." Harry instructed. Ron finally made his patronus (I'm not quite sure what it is, unless you know it doesn't have a shape then I can make one up). "Then just say expecto patronum."

"It's quite a bit harder then you're making it out to be." Hermione said. Draco raised his wand but couldn't concentrate on something good due to the dementors' powers. He glanced back at Grace and instantly remembered the feeling he had kissing her.

"Expecto patronum!" Draco said. A giant bird burst forward from his wand. No one paid much attention to what kind of bird it was, they just paid attention to how strong it was and how fast Draco managed to produce it. The dementors all backed off, Voldemort wasn't very happy. Death Eaters took the place of dementors.

These guys, Draco knew how to handle. At least, he would have, had Grace not made some pained noise and whipped around to look at her. She had gotten the sleeve of her jacket pulled up past her elbow and her gloves were gone. At first Draco couldn't tell what was wrong, and then he saw the red stain on the snow under her hands.

"Draco!" Hermione shouted. Reluctantly, he snapped his head around and fired a stunner at one of the Death Eaters.

"This isn't good." Ron said.

"Harry, grab Grace and apparate out of here." Hermione said.

"What about you guys?" Harry asked.

"Just do it!" Hermione said. Harry looked at Draco who looked at him and nodded. He nodded back and stepped back to Grace, still firing spells. He put his hand on her shoulder but she flinched away.

"Grace, come on, we have to get out of here." Harry said, trying again. Grace wouldn't let him touch her. "Hermione, that plan isn't gonna work!"

"Make it work!" Draco said. Harry tried one more time and Grace actually took her hand from her wrist, slapped Harry's hand away, then pressed her hand back against her wrist, but not before Harry had seen what she had done to it. It looked as if she was trying to scratch the mark off. There were bleeding red cuts all around it. Harry shook his head when he heard someone yell and stunned a Death Eater that was coming up behind them. Hermione, Ron and Draco all fell over and Harry looked at them. It would be understandable if one at a time fell over, but at the same time?? He suddenly realized the ground was shaking, rather violently.

"What's going on?" Ron asked. The Death Eaters seemed just as stunned as they were, even Voldemort made no move to attack as everyone tried to figure out where the sudden earth quake had come from. Without warning, seven or eight Death Eaters were thrown up into the air as trees grew right under them in a circle around the teens. The trees all bent and their top branches interlocked to form a dome around Draco, Harry, Ron Hermione and Grace. It went pitch black around them. Hermione and Harry lit their wands and everyone looked at Grace who was very still.

"Grace?" Hermione whispered. They all jumped as they heard banging against the trees. Wands were at the ready but nothing got through. Draco took off one of his gloves and examined the bird on his hand. He looked at the one on Grace's hand which was slightly bloody. It was still there, maybe darker then before. Draco felt his insides twist at the guilt that suddenly consumed him. He shouldn't have let the walk even take place, let alone get away from the guard. He felt as if he had led Grace straight to the people he had promised to protect her from. Draco didn't even feel like he should blame Ron, who had suggested leaving Remus, Tonks and Fleur.

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked. "Even if we could apparate out of here, we can't leave Grace. She can't and she won't let anyone touch her." Hermione did a spell that cleared away the snow around Grace and sat in front of the other girl.

"Her eyes are different." She said. "They aren't blue. They're kinda…green." She leaned forward a bit. "Grace? Come on, talk to us." The other girl shook her head once. "Well at least she's responsive…in a way. Mal…Draco, try something." Draco jumped a bit and looked at Hermione.

"Huh?" He asked. He hadn't even been listening to anything the others had said. He was more consumed with the guilt he felt and staring at Grace as she suddenly reminded him of when he first met her. There was banging on the trees again.

"Harry!! Ron!! Hermione!!" One voice shouted.

"Grace!! Malfoy!! You guys in there?" Another voice shouted. Grace blinked, her eyes flashed a brighter green then faded to blue. The trees vanished around them and three people stumbled as they nearly fell into the circle. Since they were all close to each other, Harry easily had his wand trained on the three of them.

"I'm Remus Lupin, a werewolf, your ex-Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." Remus said. "One of your father's best friends and I taught you how to create a patronus, yours turns into a stag."

"And them?" Harry asked, moving his wand between the girls.

"Are you simply that blind that you…" Fleur started.

"Just tell him something about you that only you would say." Remus said.

"Grace is my old friend, I thought she was dead along with her parents and we talked for nearly an hour in French before we left on this silly walk." Fleur said.

"Tonks?" Harry asked.

"Wotcher Harry, I hate my first name…" Tonks said. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Nymphadora. What kind of idiotic woman names her child that?"

"Alright, we're good then." Harry said, lowering his wand. The three adults walked over to them. Fleur crouched by Grace and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. Grace flinched from her as well.

"She won't let anyone touch her." Hermione said.

"She wouldn't even let me come close to getting a firm hold on her so that I could apparate us away from the fighting." Harry said. "Where are the Death Eaters, and Voldemort?"

"Gone." Remus said. "We attacked them and I guess they realised they weren't getting into that tree dome thing so they all vanished."

"Venir la Grace, nous devons retourner à la maison. Vous serez sûr là-bas." Fleur said. She stood and offered down a hand. "Grace." Everyone looked at Grace who slowly stood by herself, keeping her hand on her wrist the whole time.

"What did you say?" Harry asked.

"I just told her we had to return to the house." Fleur said. "There she will be safe." Harry nodded.

The walk back wasn't pleasant. Draco and Fleur walked either side of Grace who refused to talk or look at any of them. Remus and Tonks were giving Harry, Ron and Hermione an earful about sneaking away from them. Once they got back to the house and Hermione performed a drying spell on each of the teens, everyone sat except Grace who put herself with her back against a corner, all her outside stuff (minus the gloves of course) were still on. One by one each of them tried to pry her hand off her wrist, except Draco.

"Draco, please do something." Hermione begged. "Her wrist is still bleeding no matter how hard she holds onto it. She might be cutting off the circulation to her fingers but it's still getting through her wrist."

"If all of you trying isn't working, what makes you think it'll work for me?" Draco asked. He had been just as quiet as Grace so far but he could not stand when Hermione begged. "Why do you always think that I can get her to do everything?"

"Because she trusts you." Hermione said. "She likes you…"

"She likes you too." Draco said.

"Yes but there's a huge difference." Hermione said. "Please Draco just do something." Draco stood up right in front of Hermione, towering over her in much the same way Ron would but he wasn't as tall the redhead. Hermione looked up at him.

"For the last…bloody…time." Draco said, his teeth clenched. "If it doesn't work for all of you then it won't bloody well work for me."

"Malfoy, at the rate she's losing blood there's going to be bigger problems then your guilt." Remus said. "We need to help her now rather then wait. Get over your guilt and talk to her."

"Well I'm not gonna do with all of you watching." Draco said.

"Alright then." Remus said. "Fleur, you stay here. If she lets go of her wrist, you heal it alright?"

"Alright." Fleur said, nodding.

"The rest of you…upstairs." Remus said. Everyone trooped up the stairs and Draco waited until he heard a few doors close before he walked over to Grace. Fleur…he can handle. He could let down his guard and speak openly to Grace with Fleur around. But with Harry, Ron or Hermione around, it would be nearly impossible.

"Grace, look at me." Draco said. Grace shook her head. "Come on, look at me." Again, she shook her head. "Look, we're going to help you but we need to see what's been done in order to do so." He slowly took her free hand. The fingers were cold against his skin. "You have to loosen your hold. I know it probably hurts like a bitch but you have to let go a bit to get blood flowing into your hand." He looked down at her hand. Her knuckles were white. She wasn't letting go anytime soon. Draco sighed. "Grace I'm sorry. I messed up." She lifted her eyes to look at him but his eyes were on her hand so he didn't even notice. "I promised you I'd keep you safe from them. I promised I wouldn't let Voldemort hurt you anymore and then this happened." Her fingers relaxed, her grip slackened, but she didn't remove her hand from her wrist. "I should have protected you better then just pushing you over to Potter and expect that to make all the difference. I should have gotten you out of there as soon as he showed up. BEFORE he showed up. As soon as your wrist started hurting, we should have gone. I'm sorry that I didn't…"

"Draco." Grace said, softly. Draco lifted his eyes to hers. Like with Snape, Grace actually didn't call him by his name a whole lot. Everyone always seemed to know who she was talking about or who she was talking to when it came to him. "I forgive you."

"Oh…" Draco said. He smiled slowly. He lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her quickly, knowing that Fleur was watching. "You gonna let her help you?" Grace blinked before nodding slowly. She lifted her hand and Draco dropped his hand from her cheek to take hold of it. He didn't care that she had blood all over her palm. He stepped to her side and Fleur stepped forward. Grace lifted her wrist and the other two blondes in the room gasped.

(((A/N: I just realized that all three of them are blonde. Heehee.)))

It looked as if Grace had clawed at her wrist, trying to get the mark off. The flesh was torn up and there was a big gash right along the middle of the mark. Grace looked down, feeling bad. Blood was still running from the wounds, creating red bands around her wrists before dripping down onto the carpet or Grace's boots. Draco squeezed her hand slightly.

Fleur muttered different things and Grace muttered apologies every so often as the older girl healed her wrist as best as she could. There were scars remaining and, sadly, the dark mark still existed, black as night. Fleur told Grace to wash up in the kitchen and the other girl left her alone with Draco.

"You kissed her." Fleur said, quietly. Draco looked about ready to say something but she raised her hand and stopped him. "I do not know much about you Draco Malfoy but I can tell you this. The only male person, apart from her father, that I have seen Grace open up with was one of the professors at Beauxbatons. Seeing her this way, when she used to be so happy and carefree…it feels as if she is a different person. But you…you bring out the old Grace. I am thankful that you are in her life." Fleur kissed Draco's cheek. When she wasn't looking, Draco rubbed at his cheek as if to get something off. Fleur looked at him and laughed. "I think you should wash as well. You had blood on your hand and now it is on your face."

"Oh bugger." Draco said, remembering that now. He headed to the kitchen then stopped and looked back at Fleur. "Do not tell any of them what I said and did alright?"

"Of course not." Fleur said, nodding. Draco nodded as well and joined Grace in the kitchen.

* * *

Blonde bonding…lol. I still can't believe I only noticed that now. Oh the jokes I could come up with.

Oh, and if you people are wondering. Grace was going to be transferred to Hogwarts before Voldemort kidnapped her. Her dad had realized that since Voldemort was back, there was no safer place to hide her then at Hogwarts with Dumbledore. But Voldemort got to her first.

Now...back to the book!!!


	12. The Hidden

**The Hidden**

I have like ten chapters left of the book. So I figured I'd stop again for a while and write another chapter.

* * *

Grace was considerably less friendly towards everyone in the house during the week before Christmas. Even Draco, which surprised all the others. Fleur was a frequent visitor now. Draco wasn't the happiest camper in that week either because the Weasley twins visited often as well and Grace seemed to be getting rather close with them. This behaviour change of his didn't go unnoticed and Ron and Harry found themselves discussing it by accident one day.

"Ok so we've already found the real locket and broke that." Harry said.

"Right…and Dumbledore broke the first ring." Ron said. "And you stabbed the fang through the diary."

"And we broke the second ring." Harry said. "So we've destroyed four of the seven horcruxes. What could be the last three?"

"I don't know." Ron said. "Maybe we should ask Grace if she's seen anything. I know she was locked in that room but there could still be something."

"Yeah…he made the other two after gaining back his powers." Harry said.

"So maybe she would know." Ron said.

"Yeah but what are the chances of getting answers out of her?" Harry asked. "We even bring up Voldemort's name around her and Malfoy tells us to bugger off."

"You notice the way he's acting though lately?" Ron asked. "With Fred and George hanging around Grace so much?"

"He looks about ready to kill them or something." Harry said. "You don't think he's jealous of them do you?"

"What? Malfoy?" Ron asked. "Jealous of my brothers??"

"Well they are spending more time with Grace now then he is." Harry said. "And after that fiasco, she's kinda withdrawn from him, hasn't she?"

"Yeah, I guess she…how did we start talking about Grace and Malfoy's relationship??" Ron asked.

"Umm…" Harry said. "Oh, we were talking about the horcruxes and then about asking Grace if she would know anything."

"Right." Ron said.

The day before Christmas Eve, Grace found herself drinking polyjuice potion along with Hermione and, accompanied by a few members of the order, the girls went into a store. Hermione wanted to get some gifts for people.

"Why do I have to be here?" Grace asked, looking sulkily at ceramic figurines of ridiculously dressed animals.

"Because I wanted you to come." Hermione said. "I want your help in picking out some stuff."

"Well don't get these…these things are creepy." Grace said, pushing the messy brown hair out of her face. "Did you just pick some random woman on the streets for this?"

"Um yes…sorry." Hermione said. Grace sighed. They walked through aisles. Fred, George and Kingsley, who had accompanied the two girls, were all looking around as well but keeping sharp eyes and ears out. "So umm…you're getting close to the twins."

"Huh?" Grace asked.

"You…you're spending an awful lot of time with Fred and George lately." Hermione said, picking up a picture frame with wolves around it. "Do you think Remus would like this?"

"Umm…I don't know." Grace said, looking at the clock. Hermione put it back on the shelf and Grace looked at other things. "I guess I have been."

"Are you mad at Draco?" Hermione asked. Grace was quiet for a while. Hermione almost felt as if the other girl had either not heard her or, more likely, ignored her. Then…

"I don't know." Grace said. "I think…I think I'm scared of him."

"What? Why?" Hermione asked. Grace looked at her. "Ok well there's probably some good reasons but why now?"

"Because I think I really like him." Grace said, quietly. Hermione almost didn't hear it. But she did hear and she stared at the other girl. "How about this for Remus?" Grace held up a small clock.

"Umm…ok." Hermione said, still thinking about what the other thing Grace had said. "Like…really like him? Or really, really…kinda almost love…like?"

"I…" Grace said.

"What's kinda almost love like?" Both girls jumped as George came up behind Grace and put an arm over her shoulders.

"Umm…Remus and this clock." Hermione said, taking the clock from Grace and holding it up before putting it in her basket on top of the box for the miniature quidditch game she was getting for Ron.

"Remus might kinda almost love it??" Fred asked, coming up on Grace's other side. He looked down at her. "I know this is for your protection…but you look much better as a blonde."

"Umm…thanks." Grace said, smiling slightly.

"Well Kingsley said it's gonna wear off in about twenty minutes so he wants you girls to hurry up." George said. Hermione nodded. The boys left them again and Hermione raised an eyebrow at Grace.

"I don't know." Grace said, finally.

"How about you get him a gift?" Hermione asked.

"What would I get him?" Grace asked. "I honestly don't know anything about him cept his family is all D.Es, the only reason he did what he did was because his mother was threatened and he hasn't even seen his mother since then so he doesn't know..." Grace stopped and sighed.

"And he really likes you." Hermione said. Grace looked at her. "I…kinda saw you guys…umm…kissing the other day."

"Oh…" Grace said, her face going red. "Ok well then…what am I gonna do? Wrap myself in Christmas paper and stick a bow on my head?"

"Maybe that was a bad example but still…" Hermione said. "His patronus is some kind of bird." Grace looked down at, had it been her own hand, the bird that resided just below the junction of her thumb and forefinger. All she saw now was freckled skin with a pale line resembling a scar. She turned her hand over to observe her mark-free wrist. She could still feel it, throbbing from the pain Voldemort and herself had inflicted on it.

"What do you get someone you barely know but…" Grace muttered.

"I'm not sure." Hermione said. "I've known Ron and Harry since first year and I still don't know what to get those boys." Grace smiled. "Maybe something to do with Slytherin or his family but I don't know how proud he'd be of either of those now."

"I'll think of something." Grace said. "We have to get going before I'm me again." Hermione nodded and they found a few more things before paying for them and meeting up with their guard outside of the store. They walked through a deserted road and Grace changed back into herself. Then George put his arm tightly around her shoulders and apparated them back to the house. Hermione, Fred and Kingsley popped up on either side of them and they walked across the snowy yard into the warmth of the home, George still had his arm around Grace's shoulder.

"So…find everything?" Draco asked, poking his head out of the kitchen.

"Almost." Grace said. For the first time she actually noticed the dark look on his face that was directed at George. Grace looked between them. How long had this been going on for?? Well she knew the whole of the Weasley family had issues with Draco but that wasn't exactly what she was trying to figure out. She handed the bag she was carrying over to Hermione who went up to her bedroom to wrap things up before anyone saw them.

"So how did you boys do at obtaining a tree?" Fred asked.

"Come look." Draco said, withdrawing his head from view. Grace, eager to see a Christmas tree for the first time in quite a few years, removed George's arm from her shoulders and went into the kitchen. She looked into the dining room and then into the drawing room where she heard the boys talking.

"Not bad, can't wait till we tell her our surprise." Ron said.

"Well she's coming so shut up." Draco said. Grace walked into the drawing room and saw, standing in a corner, a beautiful pine tree. It was tall but there was enough space between the top and the roof to place some tree topper or another. With a slight frown, Grace realized it wasn't even decorated but there were boxes all over.

"My mom had some extra decorations sitting around." Ron said. "So she let us have them."

"Did it take you guys the whole hour to find it?" Grace asked.

"No…we found it in like twenty minutes." Ron said. "We've been waiting for you to get back."

"Why?" Grace asked.

"So you can help decorate." Harry said. "Ron and me couldn't figure out a good gift for you so we thought that maybe decorating a tree and the house would be a good one."

"Aww, thanks." Grace said, hugging both of them since they were standing right next to each other. "Am I gonna have to do it by myself."

"No, we'll help." Harry said.

"Good." Grace said. The three of them set to work on decorating the tree. Draco slipped out of the drawing room and walked straight into the Weasley twins.

"Why aren't you joining in the fun?" Fred asked, nodding back into the room.

"I have some things to do." Draco said. The twins simultaneously raised their eyebrows. "Got them distracting her so that I get the room to myself for a while." This created smirks on the twins' faces. "Oh get your minds out of the gutter, will ya." Draco stalked off around them and up the stairs.

"Draco." Hermione whispered, opening her bedroom door. Draco jumped and looked at her. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

"I guess." Draco said. He walked into the room that, at first, he had slept in until it was decided that he should stay with Grace. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing…just wondering if you got anything for Grace." Hermione said, sitting on the bed and pulling a parcel towards her.

"Yeah…I do." Draco said, slowly.

"I don't know if she already has something for you or if she's going to make something up but she didn't get anything today." Hermione said. "It was hard trying to find something."

"Ok." Draco said. Why on earth was she telling him this?

"Just thought you should know." Hermione said. Draco turned to leave the room. "Be careful with her, Draco. You better then the rest of us should know just how fragile she really is." Draco turned back to her but Hermione was busy wrapping on the quidditch game box. Shaking his head, he left the bedroom and went into his own.

He sat in there for a while, not really doing anything, but then decided to wrap up the gift he had for Grace. He knew he wasn't going to give it to her on Christmas in front of everyone but maybe at night, when they were alone…or maybe tomorrow night once everyone got back. While he was wrapping, he heard voices out in the hall. One he could distinguish very well to be Grace's as she laughed about something. He shook his head.

Draco didn't leave the room for an hour. When he did, it was to find decorations all over the place. Red and green streamers on the walls, holly berry bunches stuck to the doors, the words 'Happy Christmas' waved over the walls. Chuckling to himself, Draco made his way to the staircase. The handrail had green garland wrapped around it that changed colour every few seconds. Downstairs, there were silver and gold garlands on the walls, draped over the doorways, a wreath on the door.

"You lot outdid yourselves." Draco said, walking through the kitchen which smelled like gingerbread. He stepped into the drawing and froze. The tree was fully decorated and the lights were dazzling on it. The fireplace a few feet away was lit and glowing warmly. There were more streamers and 'Happy Christmas's on the walls and already a stack of presents under the tree. In a way the room seemed cluttered but it was a very nice kind of clutter. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Grace all stood by the tree. Kingsley, Fred and George were standing at a distance, admiring the work of three of the teens.

"Grace, I think you would make an excellent Christmas decorator." George said. "Just simply superb." Grace spotted Draco and smiled at him brightly. She fit into the room so well at that moment, cheerful, bright and dazzling. It was breathtaking how beautiful she was. And then she was in his arms, Draco wasn't sure how she crossed the room so fast, but didn't argue with anything as he got to hug her.

"What do you think?" Grace asked, lifting her head off his shoulder.

"Magnificent, absolutely stunning." Draco said, smiling down at her. Grace, of course, thought he was talking about the decorations. She smiled even more brightly. The tree paled in comparison to her.

"It was so much fun." Grace said. "I haven't gotten to do any decorating in four years."

"Four?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, the year before I was kidnapped, I had to stay at school. Usually Madam Maxim lets the students do some decorating if they really want to but she wasn't there that year, was she." Grace said. Everyone shook their heads. Maxim, of course, was at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament that year. Grace looked at Draco.

"Umm…you lot have presents to wrap still." Hermione said. "These presents are just mine and Grace's. Ron…you and Harry, I'm pretty sure, still have things to wrap."

"Right…and mom'll be wanting us home to help set up for tomorrow." Fred said. George nodded. Kingsley joined them in leaving and Harry, Ron and Hermione all disappeared out of sight and up the stairs.

"That was…" Grace started but stopped as Draco leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. What Hermione just did suddenly made sense in her mind. The other girl must have noticed that Draco probably wanted to do this and made sure she could get everyone out of the room. Grace was not complaining. Her hands slid up his arms and draped over his shoulders.

"Just so you know…I was talking about you." Draco said, pulling away. Grace frowned for a second then went red for the second time that day when she realized what he was talking about.

"I'm not beautiful." She said.

"Are you bloody idiotic? Of course you're beautiful." Draco said. "No one else even compares." Grace's cheeks flamed more. Draco chuckled, resting his hand on one of the warm cheeks. "You realize that me being like this is very rare so you better appreciate it." Grace laughed and leaned against his hand slightly. "Actually…you're right. You're not beautiful…you're beyond that. I don't think there's a word…" Grace leaned forward and reapplied her lips to his.

"I'll put them under the tree." Hermione said, loudly.

"We can do it Hermione." Harry said.

"No really, it's no problem." Hermione said.

"Are you hiding something?" Ron asked.

"What me? No…why?" Hermione asked.

"Because you're acting like Luna." Ron said. The boys pushed past her.

"That's a lot of gifts." Grace said. Hermione spun around to see the other girl walking out of the drawing room and going to the oven. Hermione sighed and followed Ron and Harry into the drawing room as Draco walked out. He gave her a grateful smile and she just nodded. Draco leaned against the counter next to Grace as she pulled on oven mitts and took out a bunch of gingerbread pieces from the oven.

"I'm guessing we'll be making gingerbread houses?" Draco asked.

"Once these cool." Grace said. Draco nodded. Mrs. Weasley had brought over another, small, box full of the gingerbread pieces and stuff to decorate them with. She had given instructions but the boys had lost them.

"I'm guessing you used to make these a lot?" Draco asked, watching Grace mix stuff together to make some white fondant to use as the paste.

"All the time at Christmas." Grace said. "Fleur was spectacular at making them though." Draco nodded, having no other response. Harry, Ron and Hermione came into the kitchen and Grace then started to split her time into making the fondant the right consistency, and smacking Harry, Ron and Draco's hands away from the gingerbread pieces as each boy tried to grab them.

"We should check her for Moody's eye." Ron said, rubbing his hand. They walked as Grace started using different means of putting the fondant into a clear plastic bag that came with the rest of the stuff.

"Or maybe just stop trying to steal pieces." Hermione suggested.

"Well that's the easy way out." Ron said.

"Come on, Granger, you should know better by now." Draco said.

"Have you two noticed how often you're agreeing on things lately?" Hermione asked, grinning. Draco and Ron looked at each other.

"Bloody hell…" Draco said.

"We are." Ron said.

"And finishing each other's sentences." Harry said.

"Shut up!" Draco and Ron said together.

"And talking at the same time." Grace said. The blonde and redheaded boys glared at everyone. "Oh cheer up, we can start putting everything together now."

"By we you mean…" Ron said.

"Hermione and I will put the pieces together, you guys can put different candies on them." Grace said.

"Deal." All three boys said. Grace had put fondant into three different bags and cut the tip off each of them. She gave two of the bags to the boys and let them go crazy with the gingerbread people while she and Hermione alternated holding house pieces together and 'gluing' them in place.

"They're like children." Grace said. Ron bumped into Draco who shoved him away. Ron shoved Draco back and soon the two were fighting, using one of the fondant bags as a weapon. Grace watched as they rolled around, hitting each other and getting themselves, and the floor, covered in white stuff…but they were laughing the whole time.

"It's been nearly two months and you still find this amazing?" Hermione asked. "Boys are crazy." Grace nodded. Harry looked down at the fighting duo and rolled his eyes. After the two bumped into his chair for the fourth time, he gave up on working on his person and joined in the tussle. Once finished, the girls didn't even try to get their attention but went on decorating the house themselves.

* * *

Look, I managed to get no real problems in this chapter. But like I said, Christmas isn't gonna happen…Christmas Eve maybe but definitely not Christmas. I think I'll try to get a chapter a day now.

I wonder who actually reads this stuff????


	13. Disturbance

**Disturbance**

Ok so now that I'm on Chapter 32…I've just learned what pretty much all the damn horcruxes are. There are a few things that I loved about Chapters 30 and 31 but also something that I hated about chapter 31 (the end of it anyways). But even though I hated it…I might just use it. I know that I'm going to use a bit from chapter 30, which I liked a lot because it was funny.

* * *

"You want to do what?" Hermione asked, in a whisper.

"Shhh!" Harry said. Even whispering seemed too loud in the silence that had taken over the Burrow. Grace wasn't very happy to be there without Draco and she didn't like having Mrs. Weasley make a fuss over her. Since she was refusing to talk at the moment, no one else seemed to be talking and Hermione's little exclamation drew eyes in their direction.

"Sorry." Hermione said, even quieter. They were glad when Fleur broke into the silence and started up a conversation with Grace about some random thing.

"Like I was saying…" Harry whispered. "I think that one of the last Horcruxes is in Hogwarts."

"Yes, that's understandable, but why do you want to bring Grace?" Hermione asked.

"She might recognise…" Harry said.

"Oh Harry, she won't recognise anything." Hermione said. "The only thing she'd recognise is McGonagall."

"Well then she should at least see the place." Harry said.

"To what purpose?" Hermione asked. "She's never going to go there."

"Look Hermione, he talked when he was torturing her, right?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded. "So what if he let something slip? What if he described something that he had turned into a horcrux?" Hermione sighed.

"What do we have so far for them?" She asked.

"Riddle's diary, the first ring, the locket, the second ring and the snake." Harry said. Hermione opened her mouth to say something. "I know the snake isn't dead but we know that it's one of them so that just leaves two more."

"And you think one of them would be in Hogwarts?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded, his eyes slipping over to Grace as she laughed for the first time that day since finding out that she would be going somewhere without Draco. Hermione turned slightly to look at the girl as well. Harry had glanced at her quite a few times during their talk of Horcruxes. "Oh Harry…please don't say what I think you might be thinking."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Well if what I think is correct, then we'd have to…to…" Hermione said. Ron looked between them then at Grace before looking back at the distressed look on Hermione's face.

"You think Grace is a Horcrux?" He asked. Grace looked over at them, hearing her name. They all smiled at her and she turned back to Fleur.

"I didn't say that." Harry said. "But it might make sense. I mean…we know that living things can be Horcruxes. Wasn't it weird that He seemed almost more intent on keeping her away from us then he was at killing me? He thought the Dementors might have had us distracted enough…"

"Yeah well if Malfoy hadn't done one powerful patronus then it would have worked." Ron said.

"Exactly." Harry said. "He didn't think that that would have happened so he called the D.Es." The four of them had taken to using Grace's short form for Death Eaters quite quickly. "Hoping the same thing. Get us distracted and have one of them grab her. She was in no position to stop them. BUT he didn't count on her powers and that weird tree dome thing she did."

"But she can't be a Horcrux." Hermione said.

"Why not?" Harry asked. "You said it yourself, two of them he made after he had come back to power."

"Yes I know, but…" Hermione said.

"What if he wanted something like this to happen?" Harry asked. "What if he actually expected us to somehow free her and then become friends with her."

"But that would mean we'd have to…to…" Hermione said.

"He knows we won't be able to do it then." Ron said. "The jewellery…the diary…the snake…we'd have no problem with those. But someone we know…someone we like."

"We won't be able to do it." Harry said, nodding.

"But there's always the chance that she's not." Hermione said, hopefully.

"Yeah." Harry said, nodding again. He absently played with the broken ring on his finger, thinking. He jumped as a figure dropped down next to him. He looked over at Grace.

"Are you guys done being all secretive now?" Grace asked. "I don't think I can't handle much more by myself."

"We're sorry Grace." Hermione said. "We didn't mean to leave you to face all of them at once by yourself." Grace just nodded. Even the presence of all the Weasley children couldn't keep Mrs. Weasley from fussing over the blonde girl.

"We need Percy…he may be a prat but he would at least draw mom away from you." Ron said.

"I…I think you might your get your wish Ron." Hermione said, staring out the window. Ron looked out at well and then pressed his face to the glass to make sure he wasn't seeing things. There was a soft knock on the front door and several wands instantly shot to it as it opened slowly to reveal yet another redheaded person with horn rimmed glasses. Mr Weasley shot his arm out and caught his wife as she made to step towards their son.

"Just a minute." He said. "We have to make sure he's not one of them." Before anyone else could say anything, Harry and Grace spoke up.

"He's not." They both said. Everyone looked at them.

"I'm me." Percy said. There was a very big silence. Fleur and Grace seemed to be the only confused ones in the bunch, Grace more so then Fleur. Neither having really known, nor met Percy.

"Umm…Hi." Grace said, feeling the strong urge to break the silence. "I'm…I'm Grace."

"I'm…Percy Weasley." Percy said. Grace smiled slightly. Mrs. Weasley broke into sobs and went past her husband's arm to hug her son. It was quite the awkward experience, having Percy back with all of them after being out of their lives for nearly three years. Ron spent some time alone with Percy and then returned to the other three, saying that they better leave. Hermione argued about having Ron stay and do some family talking but Ron argued back that the alone time was all he needed so the four of them said their goodbyes and returned to the house. Grace still was the only one, that was of age, that couldn't apparate. She wasn't awfully happy about it but on the plus side they were teaching her now, finally.

"I wonder where Draco is." Hermione muttered as they walked into the house and through the entire lower level. He wasn't in the living room, dining room, kitchen or drawing room. "Maybe you should check upstairs, Grace."

"Ok." Grace said. She said her goodnights and, carrying the gifts she had gotten from the Weasleys and other members of the Order, she made her way up the stairs. The door to the room she shared with Draco was open slightly, which helped her out. Grace pushed it open further with her foot and walked into the room. She put the parcels at the end of her bed before looking over at Draco's bed and smiling.

He was fast asleep with a book lying on his chest and his hand holding the book. The other hand hung off the side of the bed and his head was turned towards the door. Grace wondered whether or not she should wake him. It was so weird seeing him asleep in the dark because usually she fell asleep before him. If she happened to wake up before him, it was only for a minute or two. He seemed to be able to tell if she was watching him…

"When did you come up?" Draco asked, yawning. Grace jumped, having not noticed him waking.

"Uh…a couple of minutes." She said. "Ron's older brother, Percy, showed up and we decided to leave." Draco nodded and sat up. Grace sat down next to him. "I didn't even get this many presents before Voldemort." They both looked at the pile of things Grace had received, which included a sweater made by Mrs. Weasley. It didn't have any letters on it but it did have a duplication of the bird that took residence on Grace and Draco's hands.

"I guess everyone is determined for you to have something good in your life now." Draco said.

"I have a few things already." Grace said. She leaned against Draco and yawned.

"Maybe you should get some sleep." Draco said.

"Well now that I'm sitting, I'm too tired to move." Grace muttered. Draco grinned and shook his head before sliding back a bit. Grace looked at him as he pulled her down to the bed with him. Her back was to him as he shifted closer, draped an arm around her waist and then kissed her cheek.

"Get some sleep, alright?" Draco said. "Gonna be busy tomorrow."

"Mmhmm…" Grace said, her eyes already closed and her breathing evening out. She was asleep within the next few seconds.

"Guess she really was tired." Draco said. He lied there for a few long minutes before finally drifting back to sleep.

"Shh…they're probably still sleeping." Hermione whispered. Grace squeezed her eyes shut. "Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise, we should at least knock first." Grace opened her eyes and sat up. She nudged Draco and he grumbled something. She nudged him again and he sat up instantly, wand ready.

"Wha…what is it?" Draco asked. Grace spun around so that her feet were by the pillows and she was facing Draco, just as the door was knocked on and three other people came into the room.

"Harry Christmas!" Harry, Hermione and Ron said. Grace grinned and gave Draco a look as he quickly dropped his wand.

"Bloody hell…could have given more warning." Draco said.

"Well we thought that you, at least, would be up already." Ron said. "We got tired of waiting."

"Oh Poor Weasley." Draco said.

"Here we go again." Hermione said. Grace got up off the bed and over to her pile of gifts. She extracted the sweater and picked up a pair of jeans before leaving the room as Ron and Draco began fighting. She had no problem with changing in front of Draco, but not the others. She came back after changing in the bathroom, with the two still arguing and Harry and Hermione out of the room. Grace threw her clothes from the previous day onto her bed then left again.

"Still at it?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah." Grace said, sitting across the table from Harry in the dining room. She ran a brush through her hair then tied it up in a ponytail. Her one hand flinched every few seconds. Nothing big but it was noticeably after a while of it just sitting on the table.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." Grace said, watching her hand. "I don't know why it's doing that." She turned it over to look at the scar covered mark on her wrist.

"Oy!! Where'd everyone go?" Ron called out. Harry and Hermione laughed. Ron and Draco walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, pushing each other. Grace's hand gave a rather violent flinch at that moment, knocking over her glass of water.

"Oh bugger." Grace said, grabbing hold of her hand. Hermione rushed over with a cloth. "I'm sorry Mione…I didn't mean to. Something just seems wrong."

"Are you ok?" Draco asked.

"I'm ok but my hand doesn't seem to be." Grace said. She turned her hand over to look at the mark. Her hand shook and Grace had to hold it again to stop. The mark seemed perfectly normal. Pitch black as usual, a bit paler where the scar ran across it. Grace looked up at the others. "Harry?"

"I don't know." Harry said. "I'm not feeling anything. My scar's a bit irritating but it's been like that for a while."

"I don't like this." Hermione said.

"Maybe we should ignore it." Ron said.

"Yeah right." Grace said. "Ignore my hand twitching every few seconds. Let's see you try." Harry's hand reached up and rubbed his scar.

"You alright?" Ron asked.

"Hermione…just how good at the protection spells around this place?" Harry asked.

"I don't know." Hermione said. "They've been good so far. Why do you ask?"

"Just to be sure." Harry said, dropping his hand. "Let's have some breakfast, then we can finish off the presents and then talk about what to do."

"Ok." Everyone agreed. Draco sat down next to Grace and took over the task of keeping her hand steady. It actually wasn't as easy as he though. He could still feel it shaking. It made eating hard but both of them got through it with little mess. It was then that things turned bad. Harry was watching Grace's mark the whole time he ate and he had no way of hiding his surprise as it suddenly changed from black to red. A second later Grace tore her hand out of Draco's grasp with a cry of pain as it burned.

"We have to get out of here." Harry said, suddenly standing up.

"What? Why?" Hermione asked.

"Because they've found us." Harry said. Hermione looked out the back window and shrieked as multiple black cloaked persons appeared in the back yard. "Do all of you have your wands?" Grace shook her head. Harry summoned it and threw the piece of wood to her. With much effort, Grace took her hand off her wrist and caught it. "Try to ignore the pain."

"Ok." Grace said. They all jumped as there was banging on the doors and windows. Everyone raised their wands. They couldn't apparate from inside the house. They had to be outside of it.

"Hermione…try to get some of the protections down. Maybe we could apparate then." Ron said.

"But if I start doing that, they'll break in." Hermione said.

"They're going to get in anyways." Draco said. The window was cracking. "Oh bloody hell. Upstairs!"

"I'm all for that." Ron said. The five of them ran up the stairs. Harry went into the room he had and came back with his broom before they all went into the room Ron and Hermione shared.

"If we can get a big enough hole in the wall then we can just fly out." Harry said.

"Only problem…brooms can't carry three people." Ron said. "Unless they're those big family…" He stopped as Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out a miniature broomstick. "What the bloody hell?"

"Its mine you ninny." Draco said. He performed an enlargement charm on it and it grew to its regular size. "I shrunk it so that I could hide it."

"Brilliant, problem solved." Hermione said. Ron grabbed his broom from the closet. "How are we going to do this though? The second we blow a hole in the wall they'll swam in like locus."

"Bubbles!" Grace said. Everyone looked at her. "You know like…the bubble head charm…but you do it for your whole body and it repels things off of you for a minute or so."

"That's all we need." Harry said. "Do you know how to do it so that it will go around two people and a broom?"

"I…I think so." Grace said.

"Ok everyone, get on the brooms and let's get out of here before…" Harry started. A crash from the lower level made the girls scream. Draco made the bedroom door slam and lock.

"That won't hold for long but they'll search all the other rooms as well first." He said.

"Right then, we have to do this now." Harry said. He mounted his broom, Ron and Draco did the same with their own brooms. Hermione got on behind Ron but Grace seemed hesitant.

"Come on, Grace!" Ron said. "We don't have time for this."

"I…" Grace said.

"You're not afraid of flying are you?" Ron asked. Grace shook her head. "Then what?"

"Shut up, Weasley." Draco said. He looked at Grace and took her hand. "Hey…" She looked at him. "You trust me?" Slowly, Grace nodded. "Then get on." Doors banging open made her jump and Grace quickly got on behind Draco.

"Do the bubble thing." Harry said.

"Right." Grace said. She waved her wand and a light blue bubble appeared around Harry. She did the same thing for Ron and Hermione. "Spells can't get out either!"

"Alright…umm…" Harry said. "Malfoy…you blast the wall and Grace you get the spell on you as soon as the wall breaks, got it?"

"Got it." The blondes said. Grace put an arm around Draco. He could feel heat radiating off the mark through both their shirts.

"Ready?" Draco asked.

"Just do it." Grace said. Draco raised his wand and shot a spell at the wall. As soon as a hole blew in it, the door burst open and Grace made a bubble around herself and Draco.

"Let's go!" Harry called, flying out. Ron followed and Draco went after. Curses were shot at them but they bounced off the bubbles. Each time though, the bubble would flicker.

"Where are we going?" Draco called.

"I don't know." Harry replied. "Away."

"Works for…" Draco began but was cut short as their bubble faded and Death Eaters on brooms rose around. "Oh bloody hell. Hold on tight, Grace." Both her arms were wrapped around him. Draco dove quickly to avoid stunners.

"How are we going to lose them?" Hermione called. Grace let go of Draco and shot the few spells she had learned in the last two months at the Death Eaters.

"Hey, do you like being upside down?" Draco asked.

"Umm…not really." Grace said.

"Well you better hold on tight then." Draco said. Grace put her arm back around Draco and he spun them upside down. Grace yelped as they flew that way for a bit before he managed to get them upright again.

"Don't do that again!" Grace said.

"I'll only do it if I have to." Draco said.

"Why did you have to do it?" Grace asked.

"To get you mad." Draco said. Grace glared at him. A Death Eater zoomed in front of them. Grace's eyes went white and the snow turned and flew, hard, at the Death Eater, blowing it out of their way. "See…you get mad…your powers work." Grace hit him. "Ow!"

"You're gonna get worse then that when we get through this." Grace said. "Hermione!!"

"What?" Hermione called.

"I just thought of an idea." Grace said. "You guys have to come closer."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. It's the only way we'll be able to see each other!" Grace said. Ron flew over to one side and Harry dropped down to their other side. Within seconds the snow fell harder until it was almost a complete white out. "Now they can't see us."

"Yeah, but we can't see where we're going." Draco said.

"Well let's go up a bit so that we can at least avoid trees." Grace said. The three brooms rose a few feet and slowed down. With the Firebolt, Harry probably could have been long gone by then but he wouldn't have done that to the rest of them. Not when it seemed as if Grace was the primary target at the moment.

"Grace, I need you to do something." Draco said.

"What?" Grace asked.

"Hope on with…Harry." Draco said. Harry looked at him. He guessed the blonde must have realized what was going on as well.

"But…" Grace said.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked. "They're after both of them. Stick them together and you make it a lot easier."

"Yeah but Potter's got the fastest broom." Draco said. "Both of them can get out faster."

"But…I…" Grace said.

"You have to do this." Draco said, now just hovering. He turned as best he could to face her. "I told you I'd keep you safe and this is going to do just that. Please Grace, you gotta trust me on this." Grace looked so close to tears then. Her cheeks red from the cold already. Even though she had gained weight in the last couple of months, she was still pretty thin and only wearing a sweater and jeans wasn't helping to keep any heat. "Please…"

Draco Malfoy had never come so close to begging in his life but if that was what it was going to take to get her to safety then he'd do it. Harry moved his broom closer, his leg brushing against Grace's now. Grace squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, they were blue again. The white out she had created was dying down. They would be spotted soon. She nodded and put her hand on Harry's shoulder before slowly and carefully switching brooms. She held onto Draco's hand and paused for a second. He leaned closer to her and kissed her quickly, doing what she couldn't make herself do.

"You two are the top priority to keep safe right now." Draco said. He squeezed Grace's hand then let go. "We'll be ok."

"Where are we going to meet?" Ron asked. Everyone was silent. They heard voices gaining up on them.

"The place we discussed." Harry said, suddenly.

"Where you think the last one is?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah." Harry said. "There…we'll meet there."

"Be careful." Hermione said.

"You too." Grace said, quietly. Draco looked from her to Harry.

"Go!" He said. Harry didn't need anymore encouragement. He flew off and was soon out of sight from them.

"Just so you know…he's talking about the school." Ron said.

"Oh joy." Draco said, starting to fly again. "Somewhere I'm bound to get cursed a hundred times over for what I did."

"Show up with us and you should be ok." Ron said.

"Yeah right." Draco said.

* * *

Ok and now…I am going to finish the book. I'll probably have the next chapter up tomorrow as well. 


	14. Hogwarts

**Hogwarts**

OMG!! I finished the book like I said I was going to and it was so cool. I loved the end of it, especially the whole "19 years later" thing. Ok so anyways I was thinking of making another story, using Harry/Ginny's and Ron/Hermione's kids. And yes, I am throwing more stuff from the book into my story.

* * *

"H-Harry." Grace muttered.

"Yeah?" Harry asked.

"Where are we going and how…how much longer?" Grace asked. Harry could feel her shivering against him. Even though he was taking most of the wind, she was already cold to begin with.

"Just a bit longer and then we can land." Harry said. He wasn't going to fly all the way to Hogsmeade, that would have been so many levels of insane, especially in this cold. He just needed to find a safe place to land them. They were quiet for a bit. "Grace…come on, Grace. Keep talking to me."

"Why?" Grace asked.

"Because if you stop you might fall asleep and then you might fall." Harry said. He felt Grace stiffen against his back.

"I'm good, I'm good." Grace said.

"Ok…I'm taking us down now." Harry said. Grace nodded and tightened her hold as Harry pointed the broom down and they descended quickly. Grace stumbled as she got off from behind him. Harry took an idea from Draco and caused his broom to shrink before putting it into his pocket for safe keeping. Then he looked at Grace.

Her arms were wrapped around her, her lips were going blue, and her whole body was shivering. Her hair seemed frozen as well. Harry wondered how he might look then, he could feel himself shivering but he had also had a jacket on. He stepped closer to her and looked around at where they were. He wasn't quite sure where it was but it was an alleyway. The street at the opening was full of cars and people walking quickly to escape the cold.

"Ok, Grace. We're gonna have to apparate, alright?" Harry asked. It was odd looking at her. Her face was all red from the cold but her lips were blue. Her blues eyes stood out quite well. "Grace?"

"Ok." Grace said, nodding slightly. Harry took her hand and shivered more at the icy cold he felt from her fingers. One of his fingers moved and experienced the heat radiating off the mark on her wrist. It seemed to be the only warm thing about her at the moment. He held on tightly and apparated them from the alley right into the middle of Hogsmeade. A few people jumped at their appearance but Harry didn't give them time to get a good look as he tugged Grace towards the school. People all around them whispered, however. Some people called Harry's name in confusion as he passed.

"Here." Harry said, pulling Grace into the warmth of Hogwarts School. He let go of her hand and rubbed her upper arms in an attempt to warm her more. "How you doing?"

"R-really cold." Grace said. Harry nodded.

"Just need to get…patronus!" He said. Grace, still shivering, frowned. Harry took out his wand. "Expecto Patronum." The silver stag erupted from his wand and disappeared around a corner. "Now we just gotta wait. Shouldn't be too long."

"Wait? For what?" Grace asked. Harry didn't answer her. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her before continuing to move his hands over her arms. It was a few more minutes before loud footsteps came through the halls and Madam Pomfrey appeared with a blanket over her arm and a tray with two steaming cups floating in front of her.

Twelve minutes later they sat in the hospital wing, Grace on a bed with pillows propping her up, her hands still shaking as the cradled the mug.

"How long has she been shivering like this, Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"A while." Harry said. "I don't remember when we left the house but I'm pretty sure we were flying for at least an hour."

"And you didn't think to land as soon as you got away?" Madam Pomfrey asked. Harry shook his head. "Well I have something we can use but it's all a matter of coaxing her to take it."

"She's not even drinking the tea or cocoa that you've given her." Harry said. "Our best bet, I think, is to wait until Malfoy shows up."

"The longer we wait, the worse she'll get." Madam Pomfrey said. Grace had about seven different blankets across her lap, Harry's jacket plus another one on and yet another blanket over her shoulders. "She might suffer frost bite or hyperthermia."

"I'll try." Harry said. "Where is this stuff?" Madam Pomfrey handed him a small cup of some purple liquid. Harry walked over to the bed Grace sat in and stood next to her. "How you doing?"

"Is it possible to feel colder?" Grace asked.

"Look, Grace, you have to take this stuff." Harry said, holding out the cup. Grace frowned. "I know you probably don't want to but you have to. You're gonna get really sick if you don't." Grace groaned as she eyed the cup with serious dislike. "Please Grace?" She didn't like the begging look Harry was giving her so she took the cup and gulped the stuff down. She instantly regretted drinking it so fast, it burned all throughout her body. It felt as if her insides were on fire. Grace put the cocoa down to stop herself from drinking something else that was hot. She used her hand to fan her mouth. Harry watched, slightly amused by this. Colour was returning to Grace's face and her lips turned back to a pale pink colour. Grace sighed and flopped back against the pillows for a few seconds before sitting up and peeling the blankets and jackets off.

"What was that?" She asked.

"I don't know but it did the trick, didn't it?" Harry asked. Grace nodded. She looked around.

"So this is Hogwarts?" Grace asked.

"Well the hospital wing, yeah." Harry said. The door banged open and Ron came in, half dragging, half carrying Hermione. Both looked bad.

"Hey guys, didn't think you'd be here." Ron said, looking up at them.

"What happened?" Harry and Grace asked.

"Well…once you guys left, the D.Es all surrounded us." Ron said. "Hermione pulled out some pretty wicked hexes and Malfoy did pretty good."

"Where is he?" Harry asked, noticing the look on Grace's face.

"Uh…I'm getting to that part." Ron said.

"Well we were doing pretty well." Hermione said. Her voice sounded as if she was yelling from a very far distance. "Fighting them off. I…I guess we sorta lost him."

"We got away from them and I look back and he's not anywhere to be found." Ron said. "And you can rule out him double crossing us because he was fighting pretty damn hard and they were aiming to kill him. What?" Harry was making gestures at him to make him stop talking once Ron said that they couldn't find Draco. Harry gave him an irritated look and then looked at Grace who looked pretty distressed.

"Ron you idiot!" He said.

"What?" Ron asked. Hermione hit him then made her way slowly over next to Grace and sat with her on the bed. Ron rubbed his arm, still looking confused.

"Grace, I'm sure he's fine." Hermione said. "Draco is…well…he can get out of quite a few messes. And we told him where we should be going so he's bound to show up soon."

"Yeah…maybe he just got mauled by…oh bloody hell." Ron said. Everyone looked at him. "Well the majority of the people here aren't overly fond of him are they?"

"No." Harry said. "Oh bloody hell, you're right!"

"Wait, what?" Grace asked.

"Don't worry, don't panic." Harry said. "Everything should be ok. I'll…umm…how about I go wait for him…or something?" The door banged open and Slughorn, followed by Sprout, Hagrid (who was carrying something) and then McGonagall all came into the hospital.

"What's this?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"We have a very…Potter!" McGonagall said.

"Hi." Harry said.

"Harry! What are ya doing here?" Hagrid asked.

"Forget that, what are you…" Harry stopped talking as he recognised the figure in Hagrid's arms. He jumped in front of Grace. "Hey uh…how about I show you around the school?"

"Umm…why?" Grace asked, tilting her head slightly to see around Harry.

"Well because…we have time." Harry said. "And…umm…well, it'll be fun."

"Uh…ok, I guess." Grace said. She got off the bed.

"Just wait outside for a minute ok?" Harry asked. Grace looked confused but nodded. She went out of the room. Professor Sprout went out with her and closed the door behind them. "What happened to him?"

"He arrived like this." McGonagall said. "Hagrid saw him drop from his broom."

"He looked bad enough or else I would have pummelled him some more." Hagrid said. "I got McGonagall to come and with her came Sprout and Slughorn."

"The poor boy." Slughorn said. "What ever could have happened to him?"

"Death Eaters." Harry said. "Guys…if Grace somehow finds her way back here without me, don't let her see him ok?"

"Alright but why?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think she should see him like this." Harry said. He left and came across Grace and Sprout talking about Mandrakes.

"My best student almost always faints from them." Sprout said. "He's gotten better at putting the earmuffs on properly though."

"I think I fainted once but that was because I took a dare." Grace said.

"Hey, ready for the tour?" Harry asked.

"Oh…mmhmm." Grace said, nodding. The two teens walked away from the professor. "Is it always this…empty?"

"Well it's Christmas." Harry said, looking around. "I wonder what time it is."

"Well it was…nine…when we had breakfast." Grace said. "It's probably lunch time now." Harry's stomach made some grumbling noises. Grace raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe we should go to the Great Hall first then." Harry suggested. Grace just nodded and followed him. Sure enough there was a stream of students heading into the Great Hall. "I guess it's a Hogsmeade weekend, which explains a few things."

"I guess." Grace said, shrugging.

"HARRY!!" Multiple voices yelled. A bunch of people came rushing over to them and Grace started backing away but Harry took her hand to keep her there. All of them started talking at once.

"Guys, guys…GUYS!" Harry shouted. Everyone stopped and looked at him. "If you're going to talk…at least wait until we're sitting down…and then one at a time." He pulled Grace up next to him and then led her to the Gryffindor table where they sat down surrounded by a bunch of others who all began talking at once again. Harry shook his head and looked at Grace. "Sorry about this."

"Don't worry." Grace said. She looked at the table and her eyes flew wide at the sight of all the food.

"Help yourself." Harry said, grabbing different things. Harry looked at her before switching their plates and grabbing more things. Grace looked at the plate she had and then shrugged before eating. Half way through, Ron and Hermione came in and sat down with them. "Hey…how are things?"

"Pretty good." Ron said. "Still out of it but it's all working out pretty nicely." Grace looked confused but none of them bothered to elaborate for her. "So how's the tour going?"

"We only got to here." Harry said. He looked at Hermione who was looking around the hall with interest. "What's up with you, Mione?"

"Look around." Hermione said. "Haven't you noticed that it seems that only the Slytherins are sticking to their own table? The other three houses are all over all three tables." Harry straightened up a bit to look over the heads of the people around him. Sure enough, he could spot some Gryffindors at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. He looked down the Gryffindor table and could see people that belonged to the other two houses sitting with them.

"Blimey, you're right." Ron said. "Bloody Slytherins." At that moment the big doors opened and almost every head turned to see McGonagall come in with Draco Malfoy at her side. People whispered as the headmistresses eyes gazed around the hall then spotted the ones she was looking for. She and Draco made their way over to Grace, Harry, Hermione and Ron.

"Are you ok?" Grace asked, once Draco nodded his thanks to McGonagall and sat down on between Grace and Hermione.

"Yeah fine." Draco said.

"You're an awful liar." Grace said, gingerly poking the cut on Draco's forehead. He winced. "Is this what…umm…the big guy was carrying?"

"Uh…well…yeah." Harry said, catching Grace's eye and deciding not to lie to her again.

"So this is why you sprung up the tour idea." Grace said. Harry nodded. He looked around and saw a lot of heads look away quickly. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, no worries." Draco said, smiling at her. Grace nodded and went back to eating. Draco caught Harry's eye and the other boy knew that there was a lot that the blonde was hiding from the girl between them.

"Do you people not have anything better to do then to stare?" Hermione asked. Everyone finally looked away from them and started talking to their neighbours.

"Well…where to after this?" Ron asked.

"Dunno." Harry said.

"Those things you guys are looking for." Draco said. "His things…would one maybe be in my old common room?"

"Maybe." Hermione said, thinking about it. "But how would we…"

'Leave it to me." Draco said. He turned and looked over at the Slytherin table. "I'll be right back." He said the last bit more for Grace's sake then for the other three. She looked at him and nodded as he stood up and walked over to his old table.

"What's he doing?" Ron asked.

"Maybe getting the new password." Harry said.

"Most likely." Hermione said. She watched as Draco didn't sit but remained standing by Blaise Zambini. He was bent over, probably talking quietly. Blaise shook his head a few times but then finally nodded and said something. Draco nodded, said something, then came back over to them.

"Got it." He said. "Just have to wait a while."

"Why?" Ron asked. Draco looked at him as if he had just grown a second head.

"Are you that bloody idiotic Weasley?" He asked. "It's one thing to bring Grace in but to walk in with three Gryffindors who are practically the spokespeople for that house?"

"He's got a point." Harry said. "Well…maybe just you and Grace can go."

"How will that work?" Draco asked.

"Yeah…I'm no help in this search." Grace said. "I'd never be able to find anything even if it was right in front of me."

"Never say never." Harry said.

* * *

Ok so this chapter is shorter then the last two but I wanted to put it up to see what you people think about me doing a story about the kids. I think it could be fun, quite the interesting challenge for me. 


	15. The Return

**The Return**

Ok I'm going girly for a minute. I thought that chapter about Snape and Lily was so nice and all that…I wanna put that in here.

* * *

Grace had taken hold of Draco's hand as they left the great hall and had yet to release it as they made their way to the relatively deserted dungeons. His hand was colder then hers but since that potion had worked a bit too well, Grace welcomed the chill.

"Always figured the Slytherin common room would be in the dungeons." Ron said.

"What do you mean figured?" Harry asked. "You've been there before." Draco looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "Uh…I mean…"

"So it was you two." Draco said.

"Huh?" Ron and Harry both asked.

"Oh please…second year." Draco said. "Crabbe and Goyle are not as dumb as you made them to be."

"If you knew it was us…or at least someone…how come you didn't say anything?" Harry asked.

"What would have been the point?" Draco asked. "And I didn't know it then." He pushed open a door and walked down an empty stone hallway. Their footsteps echoing around them. "Ok so who's all going in?"

"Maybe just you two right now." Harry said, before the other two could say anything. "We'll stand as a look out or…something." He added the last word as Draco raised his eyebrow again. The blonde shook his head and turned to the bare stretch of wall in front of him.

"Salazar." Draco said. The wall opened up and Draco tugged lightly on Grace's hand as he walked into his old common room. Grace looked behind them as the doorway closed back up. "Empty…I've never seen it empty." She turned her head to look around at the common room.

"Wow." Grace said. "This…isn't as nice as what we had at Beauxbatons but still…wow." She looked at Draco. He was looking at her. "What?"

"Nothing." Draco said. "I'm glad you got out of there safety."

"What happened?" Grace asked. "Hermione and Ron weren't this beat."

"Because I made them go faster then me." Draco said. "I don't wanna talk about it." He looked away from her. Grace slid her hand from his and stepped away to look around the common room for something…anything that would maybe spark some memory of maybe something Voldemort had said unwittingly. Draco looked back at her as she ran her hand along the wall. He knew the way in which he spoke probably gave her the idea that he had done something bad against them. In all honesty, he wasn't quite sure if he had, but he was pretty sure that he had made it easier for the Death Eaters to track them now that he thought over what had happened.

"Draco." Grace said. She walked back over to him. "I don't know what I'm looking for."

"Me neither." Draco said. She looked up at him and it was as if their bodies worked on their own. His arms went around her waist while hers went around his neck and before they knew it, they were kissing.

"Why did you suggest that just the two of them go in?" Hermione asked. "Are you thinking that the Horcruxes call to each other or something?"

"No." Harry said. "But that might make sense."

"Then why?" Hermione asked.

"Malfoy's right. It's one thing to possible be able to pass Grace off as a Slytherin…" Harry said. "It's another thing to have the three of us in there when it's pretty much considered enemy territory to us and everyone knows that."

"So then why are we just standing out front of it like some kind of guard?" Ron asked.

"Why are you always questioning everything I do?" Harry asked. Ron and Hermione didn't say anything. They sat quietly, waiting for the other two.

"Hey Hermione." Ron said. Hermione looked at him. "What did you get me? As a gift, you know."

"Oh uh…well…I guess since you might not see it, it was a quidditch game." Hermione said. "Like a miniature version."

"Oh cool." Ron said.

"What did you get me?" Hermione asked.

"Uh…I uh…well…I got you a necklace." Ron said. Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly. "Really nice too."

"Uh huh." Hermione said. Harry rolled his eyes and grinned. His friends wouldn't change. They looked up as the common room opened up and Grace rushed out towards them. Draco followed behind her, slower and looking rather confused.

"Did you find something?" Harry asked.

"No but I didn't remember something." Grace said. "Something really important…about Snape."

"What about him?" Harry asked, bitterly.

"He's human, Harry." Grace said. "Just like the rest of us. Which, in turn, means he has feelings." Grace pulled a long thin box out from under her shirt. "Ok so I did find something. What did you say your mother's name was again?"

"Lily." Harry said. Grace led them out of the hallway. Draco took the lead after a second and they entered an empty classroom.

"This might change your mind about him…at least a bit." Grace said, sitting on the teacher's desk.

"What is it?" Hermione asked. Grace put the box down and took the lid off before pulling out a small stack of parchment.

"What are those?" Harry asked.

"Listen to this." Grace said. She held up the parchment and read out loud.

_Dear Severus,_

_I can't believe we are in rival houses. We aren't going to end up enemies are we? The people here in Gryffindor are very nice but those boys from the train are such prats. I can't wait to begin classes, I hope they're fun or at the very least, interesting. Do you think we'll have any classes together?_

_Lily_

"He wrote a response." Grace said. "But it's just answering her questions. There's more though." Everyone looked at her as she flicked through the pages and pulled one out.

_Severus,_

_I'm sorry you feel like that. I'm sure he didn't mean it. James is quite the arrogant little fool but he seems to mean well…at least I think he does. Are we still going to go to Hogsmeade together? It'll be our first trip there and I think it'll be fun to go together. Do you understand why people are still acting the way they are? It doesn't make any sense. It's been three years has it not? Uh oh, McGonagall is watching._

_Lily_

"What was he talking about? People still acting what way?" Ron asked.

"Lily was in Gryffindor, Ron." Hermione said. "Snape was in Slytherin. If these were truly passed between them, they must have made an awkward pairing." She glanced over at Harry.

"This one is the last one." Grace said, taking another piece of parchment from the stack. "The date on this is the latest one." She looked at Harry before reading again.

_Snape,_

_Enough is enough. I don't want to talk to you anymore because you are just as bad as they are. You should know better than to think that I would still want to be your friend after what you called me. I don't overly care much if it just slipped out or not, the fact is that you said it and declined my help when I thought we were friends. You and your future Death Eaters of England friends can go about your own business and I'll go about mine. Leave me alone now, I don't ever want to speak with you again._

_Lily Evans_

"That cinches it. It has to be your mother." Ron said.

"She and Snape were friends?" Harry asked, not really looking for an answer. It didn't fit. He had seen the memory of Snape calling Lily a mudblood. How were they friends? Unless they had stopped being friends before then…

"Harry?" Grace asked. Harry snatched the last letter from her and looked at the date. It was set right at the end of June. No…they were friends up until the moment Snape had called her that.

"How could they have been friends?" Harry asked.

"He's nice." Grace said.

"He's not nice!" Harry said. "He's a rotten cowardly man who deserves to be cursed over and over for what he did."

"He kept me alive." Grace said, her eyes narrowing at Harry. All eyes were on her again. "Apart from Draco, he was the only person I saw who didn't hurt me. He was the only person that brought me things to keep me alive because Merlin knew Voldemort needed a relatively healthy torture toy."

"It must have been…something." Harry said.

"He knows." Grace said.

"What?" Draco asked, looking slightly panicked.

"He knows it must have been you who got me out." Grace said, looking at Draco. His panic increased a bit. "He was the one that told you to visit me. He would have been the first one in the room the next day."

"Voldemort looked really surprised to see you." Hermione said. Draco looked at her now. "Back at the field. He was surprised that you were with us, so it must have been just then that he realized it." Draco couldn't find a reason to argue. Voldemort practically ignored him unless they wandered across each other in the hallways. He couldn't think of any reason that Voldemort would have bothered to have someone check his room to see if the youngest Malfoy still took up residence there. Draco knew that Snape, however, more then likely would have checked his room and, if Hermione was right, having found Draco not there, didn't report it to anyone.

"Malfoy." Harry said. "I'm going to ask you something and you have to be completely honest because this could put hundred of lives at stake." Reluctantly, knowing what the other man was going to ask, Draco turned his eyes to Harry. "Is there any chance that the Death Eaters were able to follow or track you to this place?"

"Not me." Draco said. Ron and Hermione looked fearful.

"Who?" Harry asked. "Who could they be tracking?" He was afraid he already knew the answer but he had to be sure.

"I…" Draco said. He didn't want to say it because he knew it would create bad feelings. But he had to be honest. He couldn't go about pretending that the school was strong enough to withstand an invasion by Death Eaters or Voldemort, especially when he knew first hand that it was very, VERY possible. "The mark is Voldemort's way of knowing where his Death Eaters are."

"That doesn't…oooh." Ron said. He looked at Grace.

"So…that's how they were able to find us at the field…and the house." Grace said, quietly. Draco felt a wave of sickness overcome him at the look on her face. "So I've just basically been a giant trap for you guys."

"No!" Harry said.

"I've been the reason he's been able to find us." Grace said. She slid off the desk. "Why didn't we ever think of this stupid thing as a tracker before?"

"Maybe it's not." Ron said.

"It is." Draco said. "I heard them. I hid and a few went past me saying that if they can't get you now then Voldemort could just follow the mark." Grace couldn't bare it anymore. She rushed out of the room faster then they could stop her. By the time they got out after her, there were a few different directions she could have gone in. In a panic, Harry told them to split up and each of them went in a different direction, hoping to be able to catch her.

Grace had no idea where she was going. She was more or less just following windows. She wanted to get out, she wanted to get away. And she did just that. She threw open a set of doors and found herself right where she and Harry had been when they got there. She could make out people coming up from the village towards the school. There was a boundary; she knew that, of the distance people could apparate away or to the school. Practically every wizarding school had one. Forgetting the fact that she was quite ill-equipped to go out in the cold, Grace made her way from the school, passing various people, each giving her odd looks, wondering why she was trudging through ankle deep snow that was only getting higher, in nothing but a sweater and jeans.

She didn't take into consideration the fact that once she stepped outside the barrier, the Death Eaters were able to grab her. She didn't take into consideration that there was no safer place to be but inside the school boundaries. The only thing she thought about was the hundreds of students, having to be put through the same torture she went through every day…just because of her. The mark on her wrist sent an unusual heat straight through her body and she froze, scared of what it could mean. Although the heat was pleasant and welcome, the meaning behind it might not be. A few seconds later, large hands slapped one of her shoulder and another over her mouth just as she was about to scream.

"Shhh…" A very familiar voice hissed in her ear and Grace's eyes widened.

* * *

I was going to finish this up and post it this morning but my mom had the day off and I was at the mall with her all day. 


	16. Discovery

**Discovery**

Oh come on, anyone who reads my stories knows I'm a fool for cliff-hangers. It's what I do.

* * *

Grace struggled. She couldn't help it. It was a natural human response when faced with such an obstacle. Too many voices sounded similar and the one from behind her could have been one of a few different people. She was spun around and her head tilted up to look at the face of Severus Snape.

"Relax." Snape said.

"I…I can't." Grace said. "I don't…don't really know…how do I know it's you?"

"Because I know that Draco is the one that got you away from Voldemort because I had told him to visit you as often as possible." Snape said. Grace stopped struggling and stood still for a moment before instantly flinging her arms around Snape. The man froze this time as she hugged him for a few seconds before letting go.

"Sorry." Grace said.

"What were you doing?" Snape asked. "Walking away from the school."

"I'm trying to keep people safe." Grace said. "He's tracking me through this." She held up her hand, showing the pitch black mark on her wrist.

"The school is equipped." Snape said. "Everyone's been working on ways to keep it safer since they found out about you." Grace looked at him, confused. How did he know this if he was stuck with the Death Eaters? "Now that you're here, it's only a matter of time before…"

"But that's what I'm saying." Grace said.

"Listen to what I am saying." Snape said, close to snapping. "You have to go back to the school. Not just stand on the grounds but inside. There is no safe place for you. The Dark Lord wants you for your powers and he is not going to willingly spend another three years trying to break you so that you'll obey him."

"Can't he just use that one curse?" Grace asked. Snape looked like he was ready to grab hold of her shoulders and shake her if he thought that would work.

"Have you not been paying attention to what they have used against you?" He asked. Grace looked annoyed then. Why the hell would she pay attention to curses used against her? "They have tried to control you. But you and Potter seem to be the only people he has tried to control that haven't made it possible." The wheels in her head finally seemed to be working now as Grace thought about it. "Thus the reason why they have been torturing you for the last three years."

"Get me to break so then I'd just willingly do what he asks." Grace said. Snape nodded, glad that she was finally understanding. "But it wouldn't have worked. I only started getting them to work when I was practising against Ron and he made me mad."

"Exactly the reason why we need you back in the school." Snape said.

"Wait, how is that the reason?" Grace asked. Snape didn't answer, just grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the castle. "You can't go in there!! People hate Draco and he was just supposed to kill Dumbledore. But you actually did it…they'll curse you all around the building!"

"No…they will not." Snape said. Grace didn't even bother asking how he knew that. He made a patronus that ran off ahead of them into the school. Once they got in, they went in a different direction then what Grace knew and soon found themselves standing in front of a gargoyle, waiting. Snape still had her arm in his hand and she felt as if she had gotten in trouble for doing something so bad that she had to face Maxim about it. She could hear her name being called but the voice never seemed to be getting closer, almost as if it was just running a few halls away from her but never coming closer or moving farther away.

"What is the meaning of this? Release that girl!" McGonagall said, coming down the hall towards them, wand drawn. Snape took out his wand and, before McGonagall could do anything, handed it over to Grace before letting of her. McGonagall seemed confused but lowered her wand.

"There isn't much time." Snape said. "The Dark Lord and his followers are devising plans and will be coming here soon."

"I'm just sure they are." McGonagall said. Snape took Grace's hand and lifted it to show McGonagall the mark.

"They follow this!" He said. "This is how he knows where she is and therefore will be coming here soon. We do not have the time to argue."

"Very well then." McGonagall said. She gave the password and the three of them went up the stairs to her office. Grace wasn't quite sure why she was going. Afterall, McGonagall already knew what she was and since Snape got what he wanted which was obviously a meeting with her, what was she doing going with them?

"Find her?" Draco asked, meeting up with the other three in front of the room of requirement. They all shook their heads.

"I thought I saw her standing outside but by the time I got there she was gone." Ron said.

"Well she can't have apparated, even if she was outside the school boundaries, she doesn't know how." Draco said.

"I don't think she'd risk doing it." Hermione said. "So now what? We can't search the whole school just ourselves. She could be anywhere."

"What you're saying is, that if we continue to search for her, we're gonna need more people." Harry said. The four of them jumped as a door materialised next to them. All four wands pointed at it as it began to open.

"You called?" The round face of Neville Longbottom popped out around the door, followed by his body. He cast an evil glare at Draco before looking at the other three.

"Neville, what are you doing there?" Harry asked.

"Figuring out a way to help." Neville said. "Come on." Giving Draco one more look, he turned around and went back into the room. The other four looked at each other before following. They walked into a room that looked as if it were a giant common room. After looking around, they all looked back at Neville to see him playing with something.

"What's that?" Draco asked. Neville didn't answer.

"It's the coin!" Hermione said, excitedly. "The ones I charmed for Dumbledore's Army!"

"Yeah and we've been using them all year so far, those of us that are still here." Neville said. "We pass messages to the others though. Why haven't you guys seen them?"

"Uh…I think we lost ours." Ron said. Harry just shrugged. "So what are you telling everyone else?"

"You'll find out in a minute." Neville said.

"Hey, have you been in here all day?" Harry asked.

"No, I just came up after lunch." Neville said.

"Did you see that girl we were sitting with?" Hermione asked. "She has sandy blonde hair."

"Yeah I saw her." Neville said.

"Have you seen her since we left the hall?" Draco asked. Neville looked at him then slowly shook his head. "Bloody hell where the fuck did she go?"

"Calm down, we'll find her." Hermione said.

McGonagall was stunned. Not only by what Snape has said, but also by the fact that the portrait of Albus Dumbledore had confirmed it all. Grace looked just as stunned as the old professor.

"Why have you not told me this?" McGonagall asked, looking at the portrait.

"You know I don't tell things when I am not asked." Dumbledore said.

"I think the main thing to worry about now is…" Grace said, trying to stop an argument that might happen. "Maybe getting the castle ready for the D.Es. Possibly finding a way to get students out."

"She's right." Snape said. "Minerva you and the other heads of houses should round up all your students."

"And take them where, Severus?" McGonagall asked.

"The great hall." Grace suggested.

"Very well then. What will you two do?" McGonagall asked.

"We'll meet you down there once we've found Potter and the others." Snape said. McGonagall nodded and left the office.

"Are we going to look?" Grace asked.

"In one moment, there's something I want you to do first." Snape said. He had her sit and then retrieved the sorting hat. Grace looked up slightly as he put it on her head.

"Well what do we have here…?" The hat said. "A Beauxbatons student, isn't this interesting. And an Elemental to boot. Where to put you…where oh where indeed."

"It's talking to me." Grace said, quietly.

"It's supposed to." Snape said.

"Hmm…very good qualities for Ravenclaw…some terrific ones for Gryffindor as well." The hat said. "But there's something…something Slytherin about you." An image of Draco instantly popped into Grace's head and she couldn't help but smile slightly. "Well I believe I know where I would put you if you were to be part of this school though. You fit in well everywhere but such a strong sense of…Gryffindor!"

"Ow!" Grace said, as something hit her in the head. She grasped the hat, feeling something inside and pulled it off. She rubbed her hand then withdrew a shining sword with rubies on the hilt from within. "What the hell?"

"The hat has been very indecisive lately it seems." Snape said. He looked at the sword in Grace's hand. "Come now, we have to find the others."

"What do I do with this?" Grace asked, standing up and looking at the sword.

"Bring it with you." Snape said. Grace reluctantly stuck it through her belt before following after the ex-professor. She had to jog to keep up with his long strides.

"How are we going to find them?" Grace asked. Snape slowed enough so that Grace could easily walk next to him. "This is a big place."

"Can you create a patronus?" Snape asked. Grace shook her head. Snape sighed and created his again. "We will go to the great hall now then."

"What's going to happen?" Grace asked as they changed direction.

"You are about to be involved in a war." Snape said. Grace groaned.

* * *

So still have two more horcruxes left to get and I'm not going with the book on those. People who have read the book know what Snape told McGonagall because I really don't want to relay it here. Sorry for taking a few days to update. 


	17. The Final Horcruxes

**The Final Horcruxes**

Remember when I said I wasn't gonna follow the book on the Horcruxes? Yeah, I kinda lied.

* * *

Grace stood uncomfortably between Snape and McGonagall at the front of the Great Hall with teachers all down McGonagall's other side and students staring up at them. She felt almost as if she was being a barrier between Snape and everyone else. McGonagall stepped up and the hall quieted.

"As you might very well know already, Harry Potter has returned to the school." The old professor announced. "As headmistress, I have decided that we need to evacuate the students from the castle."

"What if we don't want to go?" A Gryffindor yelled.

"If you are of age then you may stay but only on your own free will." McGonagall said. "I do not encourage anyone to remain behind and…" The great hall doors banged open and three former Gryffindors and one former Slytherin stood there with all eyes now on them.

"Are we late?" Ron asked. The four former students walked between the tables and behind them came every single member of the Weasley family, Tonks, Remus Lupin, Kingsley, Mad Eye Moody, Fleur, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Oliver Wood, Cho Chang, Victor Krum, Lee Jordon and other students who had been on Dumbledore's Army and who had either gone home for the holidays or had left Hogwarts already. The group stood off to the side of the doors, their eyes on Draco, Harry, Hermione and Ron as the four walked up to join the teachers and Grace.

"If we are late then sorry about that, had to wait for this lot to get here." Harry said, nodding back at the army of people who had followed them in. Grace visibly relaxed upon seeing them but she didn't look at them, choosing instead to stare at all the people that had entered.

"Well…umm…as I was saying." McGonagall said. "No one is encouraged to remain behind nor do you have any obligation to do so. I must, however, insist that all younger students not stay back to fight."

"How are we going to leave?" A Slytherin asked.

"Neville's stayed behind to keep the room open." Harry answered. "Percy, Fred and George…" The twins threw their hands in the air and waved them frantically as if trying to indicate who they were. "Will help get all of you there."

"What room?"

"Why them?"

"I'm not following a Gryffindor anywhere!"

"Silence!" McGonagall said. Everyone stopped talking again. Her voice didn't command the same power Dumbledore's once had but it was still strong in its own way. "Prefects will help keep all of you younger students in line so that you may get out of the castle safely and you will follow them." There was a collective groan from the Slytherin table that was almost instantly halted as none other then Draco Malfoy glared at them.

"If it was for any other reason then I'd probably be joining in that groan if I was you lot." He said. "This isn't a time to be bellyaching little prats. This is a time that will almost literally decide who lives and who dies."

"Not exactly the right thing to say but I think it works." Harry said, quietly. Draco nodded. The first year Slytherins might not be so quick to follow what he said but he knew that the rest of them would, even if it was reluctantly. Harry looked over at Grace and saw the sword. He was so intent on staring at that he didn't even notice the giant tremor that made a dozen or so students scream. What he did, however, notice was the voice that echoed so loudly he swore the person was standing right next to him.

"You believe to hide from me inside your pathetic little school? You know it will not work." Voldemort's voice made many students scream, everyone who stood in the pack by the door or up at the front of the hall draw their wands and made Grace slap her hand over the mark on her wrist yet again. "Potter you cannot hide yourself or what is mine. The girl belongs to me and I want her back." All eyes reverted to Grace and Snape stepped forward to shield her somewhat from their gaze. "You will be given an hour to surrender her before Hogwarts gets put under attack." Silence followed and Grace wrenched her hand off her wrist and stepped to the side of Snape.

"She's the one he wants!" Pansy Parkinson yelled, standing up and jabbing her finger at Grace. "If he wants her I say hand her over."

(((A/N: I just hate her so much and I want to give people reason to yell at her.)))

"Yeah, and then he uses her to kill us all you nitwit!" Draco said. Pansy blinked, not used to Draco acting that way towards her.

"But…how?" She asked.

"Grace, perhaps you would like to explain." McGonagall said. "Or demonstrate."

"Umm…" Grace said. "Alright." All eyes were on her once more as she stepped past Snape. "For the last three years since his return, I have been held prisoner by Voldemort. No one could understand why he kept me alive for so long. He bartered with my father, before I was born, for me. Anyone want to take a guess why?" A few hands rose slowly but then lowered quickly as one or more people shot looks at them. "Who has heard of Elementals?" Everyone at the front and back of the hall raised their hands and a few students did as well. "Someone else can answer this."

"Elementals are people, not necessarily witches or wizards, who have control over an element." Hermione said.

"Rarely do they have control over more then one." Harry said.

"But in Grace's parents' case…each of them had control over two." McGonagall said.

"Right." Grace said. "And we've already learned that I have control over all four. For the last three years Voldemort and his Death Eaters have been torturing me in numerous ways in order to break me so badly that I'd do just about anything he asked when he asked."

"Can't he just control you?" Someone asked.

"No, apparently they've tried." Grace said.

"But if we handed you over, he wouldn't be able to get you to do anything now." Someone else said.

"He probably knows a way." Grace said.

"We are NOT handing her over to anyone!" Draco said, causing every eye at the Slytherin table to turn and look at him. Actually…every student who knew Draco Malfoy looked at him. "He'd still be able to use her and frankly I don't like the idea of trying to bust through a tree shield to get to Voldemort." There was confused chatter at that. Grace looked at McGonagall who nodded at the candles. With a sigh, her eyes changing red, Grace made the flames grow large, causing people to jump or scream. The flames grew and spread until they created almost what could be defined as a new ceiling. Some people looked awed but it, others looked scared. Fire streams flickered down from the mass and nearly hit several students. No one thought it was cool now.

"That's enough." McGonagall said. Grace nodded once and the flame reversed until it was just a hundred or so little ones sitting on candles. "We have already wasted about twenty minutes of the hour we have. No more arguments or explanations, I want you students to be out of this school safely."

"Alright you lot, you heard the boss lady." George said. "Let's move on out! Come on, up you get!" The prefects all stood first and started ushering the students out. A few stayed behind and some of the teachers had to go through and push the younger ones to join the crowd leaving. Fred, George and Percy put themselves in different sections of the group so as to be able to keep an eye on them better. George took the very end so as to make sure no one snuck away.

"Faster, faster little kids. This is a war we're talking about." Fred called.

"Unbelievable." Hermione said. "Even now they can find reason to joke."

"Well it's a good thing we have them." Ron said. The members of the Order and Dumbledore's Army all walked between the tables, picking up those students who had chosen to stay behind as they approached the front.

"Now what?" Tonks asked.

"Grace…" Harry said. "Come here." Ron and Hermione paled slightly as Grace, looking a bit confused, walked over. "You know the things we've been talking about the whole time right?"

"Yeah." Grace said. "The one you sent me into Slytherin common room to look for even though I have no clue what it would be."

"Yeah." Harry said. "The sword you have…is able to destroy them."

"Ok." Grace said.

"Harry, are you absolutely sure…" Hermione started.

"Give me your necklace." Harry said, silencing Hermione. Grace's hand went up to her necklace. Draco recognised it almost at once as the pentagram that she had been wearing when he first met her. The jewels at each point still sparkled even though her hand was blocking out light. He remembered seeing it that first time he saw her (apart from that little peek he had) but he never really paid attention to it. It was just there, surprisingly.

Actually now that he thought about it, why would she still have it? The clothes he could understand Voldemort leave in pieces the way he did. But why would Grace still have the necklace after all these years? Surely it would have gotten damaged, destroyed even, by now. Unless...

"Bloody hell don't tell me we had one of those things with us all along and never even knew it." Draco said.

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking." Harry said.

"My necklace?" Grace asked. "But I had this since before Voldemort even got me."

"Yeah but you still have it now." Harry said. "Did you have any other kind of jewellery before?"

"Yeah." Grace said. "I had on a few bracelets and another necklace but those all got destroyed within the first month and…" She suddenly stopped.

"Did Voldemort ever do anything to your necklace?" Hermione asked, looking somewhat relieved and catching on to what Harry and Draco were thinking.

"Yeah but I can't quite remember what it was." Grace said.

"Ok, take it off." Harry said. Grace looked somewhat miserable as she took off her necklace and handed it over to Harry. He turned and put it on the teachers table before motioning for Grace to come over to him again. She did and looked at him. "I need you to destroy it."

"But…" Grace said. "It's the last thing I have from my parents and…"

"I know it's hard but you have to do it, Grace." Harry said. Grace looked even more miserable as she took the sword from her side. Harry stepped away.

"What if it's not?" Grace asked, suddenly.

"Then I'm pretty sure we can fix it." Harry said. Grace sighed and lifted the sword. Minutes ticked by but she didn't do anything. Just as it got to a point where Harry thought she couldn't do it and stepped back up to her, she brought the sword down and with the sound of break glass, broke the necklace. A horrible wailing sound came from it and something rose out of it. Harry sighed in relief that he had been right about his second idea, rather then his first.

"One more down, two left to go." Ron said.

"But we don't even know what the last one could be." Hermione said. Grace walked over to Draco, frowning. He looked around at the crowd before putting his arm over her shoulders.

"I have an idea of what it could be." Harry said.

"What?" Ron asked. Harry didn't answer. "Harry come on, you have to tell us."

"Grace…can I talk to you alone?" Harry asked. Grace looked confused again. "Please."

"Uh…ok." Grace said. She got out from under Draco's arm and walked with Harry into a side room. "What's going on?"

"I need you to do something for me." Harry said. Grace nodded. "If anything…happens to me…I want you to use the sword and kill the snake." There was a second where Grace gave no reaction then, surprisingly, she smiled. Harry couldn't figure out why she was smiling.

"I always hated that snake." Grace said. "Although…" Her smile slid away. "Why me? Voldemort knows I hate Nagini and I threatened to kill it back in that first year when she wouldn't leave me alone."

"I don't think he'll see it coming, at least not from you." Harry said.

"Ok but what could happen to you…" Grace faded off. Harry had told her a few times about his connection with Voldemort. How, when he tried to kill him as a baby, Voldemort ended up putting a bit of himself into Harry. "You're the final horcrux."

"You figured it out too huh." Harry said.

"Just now." Grace said. "And if you hadn't told me about him ending up with a bit of himself in you then I never would have figured it out."

"The others would try to stop me." Harry said. "And I don't think I could ask…Draco, to use the sword since it is Gryffindor's sword." Grace shook her head. "So you have to do this for me alright?" There was a pause that stretched through more of their final minutes.

"Ok." Grace said.

"Thanks." Harry said. "When you leave, I need you to tell them that I'm still in here, just thinking and I need to be alone for a while."

"Ok." Grace said, confused again.

"I'll be leaving with you, under my cloak." Harry said. "That way it'll be easier to sneak out and…face it all." Tears suddenly welled up in Grace's eyes and she hugged Harry. He hugged her back, a bit awkwardly. "You can't leave here crying, Grace."

"I know but I don't want you to die." Grace said. It took a further ten minutes to calm her down enough. By then there was only about three minutes before the attack.

"Wish me luck." Harry said.

"Good luck." Grace said, sighing. She watched him vanish and then she opened the door and walked out, feeling him come out behind her. She closed the door and made enough noise as she walked over to the others to cover up the sounds of Harry leaving. She gave them the lie about him wanting the alone time to think.

And then it came. The clock struck the hour and, even though it was mid-afternoon, it was dark enough to be night time outside. With a final look at the door that led to the empty room, an Order member announced it was time to fight and everyone piled out of the Great Hall except for Grace who sat down at the nearest table, unsure of what to do or how to react to all of this. There were only a few things she was sure about at that moment and she really didn't want to admit to any of them. A series of loud bangs echoed throughout the school from the outside.

The war was on.

* * *

I'm not overly sure if I want Grace to fight. I also don't know how long any of it will last seeing as how Harry's already gone off. If I don't have Grace fight then what should I do with her?? 


	18. The Fight for Hogwarts

**The Fight for Hogwarts**

Ok so Grace isn't going to fight but she is going to do a few things. Just wait and see.

* * *

Sitting in the Headmaster's office seemed to drown out all the fighting. After nearly half an hour of fighting, Snape had run into the Great Hall, grabbed Grace and dragged her up to the office and told her to stay there. She could see flashes of light from outside the window but couldn't really hear too much.

"You seem troubled." Dumbledore said. Grace looked at his portrait. He was the only one still in the room. All the others had run off to watch the fight but Dumbledore had stayed to keep Grace company. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"You knew my father, Greg Turner, didn't you?" Grace asked.

"Oh yes, of course." Dumbledore said. "Bright young man, a bit on the selfish side though. I admit I was somewhat impressed by the fact that he managed to get Charlene to marry him so quickly."

"Did you ever know that he made a deal with Voldemort?" Grace asked.

"Oh my dear child of course I didn't." Dumbledore said. "I never asked about the mark that resided on his wrist until about a month after your birth. Then it vanished and there was one on yours."

"You suck at lying." Grace said.

"I was trying to make you feel better." Dumbledore said. Grace nodded. "I knew he must have had something with Voldemort but, foolishly enough, I disregarded it since Voldemort was powerless. However as soon as I heard about him being back, I told Greg to have you transferred here for your last three years."

"Well that plan didn't work out did it?" Grace said.

"No." Dumbledore said. "You managed to move from France to here and then he got you." Grace smiled at the apologetic tone. She looked out the window and down at the fighters. "I'm thinking you'd rather be down there."

"I don't know." Grace said. "I do but I don't want to fight. But I have to be down there to kill that snake. I don't know what to do anymore."

"Grace, there is a time for everything." Dumbledore said. "Perhaps you are not meant to be down there until there is a good enough reason."

"Like what? Voldemort coming out and announcing that Harry is…" Grace started but stopped as she saw the fighting stopped. "Oh no."

"Go down now." Dumbledore said. Grace nodded and ran out of the office. She heard Voldemort talking, saying how he had killed Harry and wanted everyone gathered to see the proof. She could hear him calling for her.

(((A/N: I believe part of this will seem familiar now for those of you who have read the last book.)))

"She won't." Snape said.

"Oh I think she will." Voldemort said. He and his Death Eaters stood in front of the Hogwarts bunch. Each side were missing a few people but it didn't look like a lot were gone. "She has no reason not to listen to me." Snape and Draco were among the worst injured but both stood with the Hogwarts bunch. Draco avoiding looking at his mother because he wasn't willing to see the look on her face. "Afterall, she is my little pet and as such…I expect her to do as I ask." The sound of footsteps caused the Students and adults to turn and then move apart, whether on their own or by force, as Grace came into view and walked between them.

She looked different from what everyone, save for the Death Eaters, Voldemort, Draco and Snape had ever seen her. She looked defeated, hallow. Her eyes rested on Voldemort before dropping down to Harry's body at Voldemort's feet. She was expressionless as she walked between them all.

"I shall show you all what loyalty truly is." Voldemort said. With her back to them, Grace had no idea what everyone must have thought. "Bow before me." She dropped to her knees by Harry and bowed enough for her hair to fall in her face. Her body quite effectively covering Harry's hands.

"Do something." Grace whispered. She watched as the fingers on one hand curled. She smiled ever so slightly for a second but then it vanished, back to her emotionless state as the fingers went slack once more.

"You see…this is how you should behave." Voldemort said. "Harry Potter is dead and the best weapon is on my side." Grace stood and stepped over Harry, her hair still covering her face as it remained down. She turned to face the Hogwarts bunch, her eyes remaining on Harry. "Who dares to defy me now?" She lifted her eyes, locking on a pair of silver ones that had disbelief in them.

Draco just stared, feeling more and more helpless by the minute. How could she? It didn't make any sense. He couldn't understand how Grace…His though process stopped as she winked and a small smile flashed across her face. He still stared at her in disbelief but now it was for a whole other reason.

"No one chooses to defy Lord Voldemort?" Voldemort asked. He laughed. "Of course not. Your leader has fallen and by now I'm sure all of you know what my dear little pet can do." Grace had to stop herself from cringing or shivering. This was getting too much. She knew what he wanted to do next and she had to wait. She could see his hand raising, wand ready. Her eyes flashed over to green and a little plant grew out of the ground between Voldemort's feet and Harry, still lying prone on the ground. She wondered briefly if anything itched on him yet. "Well then…Severus, Draco…I believe you both know how I treat traitors." His wand arm was up completely. "You two shall be the first ones."

"Nope." Grace said. In that second that Voldemort's gaze landed on hers, confused, the plant grew and wrapped around his arm, forcing it back down. Grace pulled the sword from her belt and brought it down swiftly on the snake's head as it slithered up towards her. The blade impaled straight through Nagini's head and into the ground. Voldemort yelled and would have grabbed at Grace had the plant not grown more and wrapped around his other arm as well. "Told you I was gonna kill this snake, didn't I?" She lifted the sword out and swept it across the cut the head off the withering creature she so despised.

In the confusion that followed, Grace backed away and tripped over, what she thought was Harry. When she looked, there was nothing. She was pulled to her feet as the two masses of fighters attacked each other again and then she saw Harry as he threw something over her.

"Come on." Harry said, pulling her to his side and out of the way of the direct battle.

"What the…how…huh?" Grace asked.

"Good questions." Harry said. "Don't know how to answer them."

"Where are we going?" Grace asked as Harry started pulling her. Grace tucked the sword into her belt again.

"We're following Voldemort." Harry said. "You gotta be quiet." Grace nodded and they followed Voldemort and the rest into the school and into the Great Hall. There were a bunch of fights going on all around them. Even the house elves were out and fighting!

(((A/N: I loved that part! Cutting at death eaters legs…lol!)))

"Harry…why doesn't it see like our people are getting too badly hurt?" Grace asked. "Or dying for that matter."

"I did for them what my mother did for me." Harry said. Grace couldn't stop a smile from crossing her face. They stepped around people fighting, bumping into numerous people. No one seemed to notice or care. Grace looked around but couldn't really make out anyone. She wanted to know that everyone was ok. It was one thing to know that Harry was ok and…

Wait a second, where was Harry? Grace looked around, most fights were stopped and it didn't take long for the others to stop as well. She was still under the cloak and saw Harry and Voldemort, in the middle of the great hall, circling each other. Grace shook her head, mentally telling herself to stop getting sidetracked.

"…and you still haven't figured it out." Harry was saying.

"Then enlighten me, Potter." Voldemort said. "Is this another 'love conquers all' thing? If so then where is your pathetic love now?"

"It's not…and it's not pathetic." Harry said. "You just keep underestimating everything, believing yourself to higher above all others. No one is stronger then the great Lord Voldemort, huh? Well here's news for ya, I can name about five different people in this hall alone that are smarter then you."

"Oh really?" Voldemort asked. "You're failing to make an impression on me, Potter." Despite telling herself not to, Grace got sidetracked looking around the hall. She saw a woman that bore a resemblance to the person she was looking for. The woman looked strained, glancing around the hall as if looking for someone. Grace moved her eyes away. It should have been easy, not a lot of people were standing and absolutely no one was fighting. She just couldn't find him. Something seemed to grab at her and Grace found herself pulling off the cloak and moving forward through the crowd to stand in the circle that Voldemort and Harry had created. Grace passed the cloak to Harry as she passed him.

"Let her go!" Harry said. Grace yelped as Voldemort's fingers closed around her wrist. "She doesn't have anything to do with this!"

"Au contraire, she has everything to do with this." Voldemort said. "I planned her conception. Why do you think I agreed to help poor pathetic greedy Greg Turner? Two powerful Elementals, each with power over not one but two separate Elements. Now usually the powers rarely transfer to the child but luckily for me, all of them did." Grace squirmed, trying to wrench her wrist out of his grasp. The mark burning so badly she was beginning to find it hard to believe there were flames or at least smoke. "She is my ultimate weapon against the great…Harry Potter." Voldemort swung her over so her back was against his chest, still holding her wrist which he now pressed into her own chest. Harry froze, his eyes widening behind his glasses. "Fool…you've gotten too close and you're far too soft. You won't kill me because it will kill her. Where does that leave you now?"

"Let her go." Harry said.

"I thought I already established the fact that I wouldn't do such a thing." Voldemort said. Harry looked at Grace who looked back at him. Both were lost, neither knowing what to do. There was only one clear way but that would result in her dying. "Now…attack him."

"What?" Grace asked, looking at Voldemort.

"You heard what I said…attack him." Voldemort said.

"But…" Grace said.

"Do it." Harry said.

"WHAT?!" Grace asked. "I'm not attacking you."

"Grace…remember how I told you everyone here is the top priority." Harry said. Grace nodded. "Do it."

"But…" Grace said.

"Quite noble of you Potter, sacrificing yourself. Shame it won't do any good." Voldemort said. Harry looked at Grace. She closed her eyes. The candle flames once again grew and spiralled down. They circled around Harry at the same time that the ground shook, violently. People fell over all around them but Grace kept her eyes closed and remained surprisingly balanced. "Enough…I don't want you to have too much time to think of a way to turn this around on me." The fire stopped and returned to the candles.

Harry was gone.

There was nothing that remained of him. All there was a burnt circle on the ground. The fire hadn't even touched him by the looks of it.

"What?!" Voldemort said. He spun Grace around and grabbed hold of her shoulders. "Where is he?" Grace just stared up at him, her eyes bright green. Swiftly, she brought her knee up and it connected with his stomach. Voldemort didn't expect this and, although it truly didn't hurt much, the shock was enough for him to let go of her and Grace backed away towards the circle.

"He didn't even move." She said. Harry pulled off the invisibility cloak, his wand pointed directly at Voldemort. Grace backed up until she was next to him.

"See what I mean?" Harry said. "I told you there were people smarter then you."

"This proves nothing." Voldemort said.

"Oh really?" Harry said. He looked at Grace. "Good job."

"Thanks." Grace said. "Took a while to understand what you were getting at." Voldemort made to move towards them but found he couldn't. Numerous vines were working their way up his legs and around his body. "Now can this be over with?"

"Yep." Harry said.

"No! No one defeats Lord Voldemort!" Voldemort yelled. His raised his arm with difficulty as vines crawled up and circled around it, trying to pull it down. "Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!" Harry and Grace both shouted. Both spells hit Voldemort's straight on, just as Harry had predicted would happen. This time however, with Grace helping, instead of a reversed reaction happening as everything got forced down to Voldemort, the impact seemed to cause an explosion that only affected him. His own spell reversed back on him, killing him, and the duel disarming spells broke him free of the vines and sent him flying backwards while his wand flew forward, falling at the feet of the two teens.

There was silence, as if no one dared to breath as they stared at Voldemort's body, almost certain that it would rise again. Finally, breaking the silence with a loud sigh, Grace fell to the floor, her eyes returning to their natural dark blue colour. Harry dropped down next to her, both looking exhausted. He looked at her as she lifted her hand and turned it over, palm up. The mark seemed to melt off her wrist and then evaporate. She turned her hand back over to reveal a mark free hand. The bird symbol was gone, the promise fulfilled.

Then noise erupted as people clapped and cheered and rushed in around the two, pulling them to their feet, hugging them, shaking their hands, clapping them on the back. Grace couldn't help but smile slightly, exhausted though she may be, with all the excitement, it was easy to ignore it. She felt a tug on her hand and let Harry lead her away from the crowd.

"Wow." Grace said, once they were outside the great hall.

"Yeah." Harry said. They both looked back into the hall, trying to find their friends.

"Harry!! That was magnificent!" Hermione said, rushing out at them and jumped at Harry, hugging him. She then threw her arms around Grace as Ron joined them, cut up, bruised and bleeding but looking extremely happy. "I was so scared when he grabbed you! You two were wonderful!"

"Thanks." Harry said.

"That was brilliant." Ron said. "Good job." He noticed the smile dropping from Grace's face. "Sorry, no idea where he is."

"I saw him come in with the rest of the fighters." Hermione said. "But after that…nothing." They could hear all the teachers and adults calling for people who weren't badly injured to help those who were down to the hospital wing. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Grace moved out of the way as people came out of the Great Hall. They all looked through the bunch but none of them saw a blonde head. A few members of the order headed outside to do an analogy of the damage done to the school and find out how many people were gone.

"Maybe…he's still inside?" Ron asked. "I mean…I saw his mom so maybe…"

"We'll look." Hermione said, taking Grace's arm and heading back into the hall. Despite the fact that a bunch of people had left, there was still quite a few people inside. They found Snape talking with Tonks and Remus, McGonagall scolding a few students that looked to be in fifth or sixth year who had obviously found a way to sneak back and were relatively unharmed by the looks of things, and a bunch of other Order and Dumbledore's Army members.

"There!" Ron said, pointing. Grace sighed in relief as she finally saw Draco, crouched next to the woman she had seen earlier who was now sitting against the wall. They were talking quietly. The woman was crying and looking more relieved then anything. Her hair all messed around her face. Draco put his hand on hers and then allowed her to pull him into a hug. Once he pulled away, he must have felt their eyes on him because he stood up and looked at them and a big relieved smile appeared on his face just before he headed over to them quickly. Ron and Hermione fell back as he got closer and Grace threw her arms around him.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, one hand on the small of her back and the other on the back of her head as Grace rested her cheek on his chest. "Bloody hell, I thought for sure you were going to…you gotta stop scaring me." Grace giggled. She tilted her head back so that they could see each others' faces. She was smiling and had tears running down her cheeks.

"I couldn't find you." Grace said. "After…I was looking and I just couldn't find you."

"Maybe we should agree not to scare or worry each other ever again." Draco said. Grace laughed.

"Agreed." She said.

"Good. Now…unless you have objections to having anyone see…" Draco said. He never finished because Grace put her hands on his head and pulled him down to kiss him.

* * *

Hmm…should I finish this story next chapter or keep going for a bit longer??? HELP ME OUT HERE PEOPLE!!! 


	19. The Schooling of Former Students

**The Schooling of Former Students**

I totally forgot that this was Christmas day with the fighting. It would have been so cool to have ended the last chapter with that line but since I didn't, I'm gonna make it drag on into this chapter a bit.

* * *

"Happy Christmas everyone!" Fred and George shouted. Everyone, even the Slytherins laughed. The younger students had been brought back within the hour and McGonagall had set most people to work at helping to restore the castle. They had got it all rebuilt and perfect by about ten in the evening and everyone thought it would be a good idea to have a proper Christmas dinner. The house elves whipped up a fantastic meal for them all. Everyone who had been in the hospital wing was allowed to come back to the hall and join in. The Slytherins still kept relatively to themselves but a few had been brave enough to sit around at other tables and a few people from other houses sat with them.

Draco and Grace sat at the Slytherin table. Every injury Draco had received was now healed but he was still a bit sore. On one side of him, his mother sat and on the other Grace, more or less, was leaning against him, trying to keep awake. The two women had talked around Draco for the majority of the feast while he got caught up with his friends. Now he was feeling just as tired as Grace and more then willing to climb into a nice bed and fall asleep for the next twelve or so hours.

"You realize if you're that tired then you should just go up to bed." Draco said, hearing Grace yawn yet again.

"I dunno where I'm supposed to go though, that's the thing." Grace said, sitting up. "I know where your common room is but that hat said I should be in Gryffindor and I don't know where that one is. AND…I don't know if I'll be able to sleep without you around." Draco nodded, understanding that. He wasn't quite sure if he would be able to either…at least not easily.

"So, what do we do now?" Both of them looked up as Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny stood over them.

"Dunno." Draco said. "Top priority is sleeping right now."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Ron said, yawning loudly. "We just want to find out what's gonna happen with Grace before we all go off."

"Are we staying here then?" Grace asked.

"Don't think we have an option really." Harry said. "Hermione's aunt's place got destroyed didn't it? That reminds me, we should probably write her to apologize."

"Don't worry." Hermione said. "She moved out before we moved in. She had the place on the market for a month or so before and then I told her about us needing a place so she just gave it to me."

"Oh well then…no worries." Harry said.

"Dad says the ministry has already gone through and fixed every muggles' memory about what happened and all that." Ron said.

"Maybe we should talk with McGonagall." Ginny said. Everyone looked at her, confused. "You know, about where Grace will be staying."

"Oh right. How'd we get off topic?" Harry asked, watching Draco stand and help Grace up. The blonde boy had a few more words with his mother before he was yet again being pulled into a hug for a few seconds. Grace giggled and he mock glared at her as he got himself disentangled.

"Well it seems to me that you two are quite reluctant to part." McGonagall said, leading Draco and Grace down a hallway. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were dropped in front of the Fat Lady and the other three proceeded on. "So it seems that we will have to make some accommodations seeing as how you two are in separate houses now." They stopped in front of a statue of a bird. Draco had passed this statue many times and never thought of it, until now. He stared at it in surprise. It was the same bird that had taken up residence on his and Grace's hands for the last few months until this night. AND it was the same bird that his patronus had become!! The weird thing was, it wasn't what he might have thought it would have been.

It was a phoenix.

"Wow." Grace said. Draco shook his head. He had completely missed what McGonagall had said and didn't even notice that he and Grace had entered the room until now. It reminded him of the inside of an apartment he had once seen. It wasn't as small as it though, this room was a fairly good size. There were three doors on the far wall and a doorway on the wall to their right leading into a kitchen.

"Wow is right. This is nice." Draco said. His hand automatically went to the wall, trying to find the light switch. The few months spent in a muggle house must have done something to him. Grace looked at him in the semi darkness and giggled. Fire erupted in a fireplace next to them, causing Draco to jump slightly.

"You got used to the muggle house." Grace said.

"I did not." Draco said.

"Then why were you looking for a light switch?" Grace asked, smirking. She crossed her arms. Draco stared at her, that look reminding him of himself just a bit. "Admit it. You got used to it."

"Fine, maybe just a little. But I'm only admitting to it because it's just you here." Draco said.

"Uh huh." Grace said. "And tomorrow you'll be waltzing around the castle as if you own the place, am I right?"

"You've been spending too much time with Potter." Draco said. Grace grinned and turned around. She walked away from him and opened up one of the doors.

"Closet." Grace said. She closed the door and opened the next one. "Bathroom." She closed that door as well and opened the last room. "Bedroom! Yay!" Draco chuckled as he watched her rush into the room. Using his wand he caused the fire to slowly die down then followed after her. Grace was spread out on the rather large, and only, bed in the room.

"Let me guess…wow?" Draco asked.

"Mmhmm." Grace said, hugging one of the pillows. "It's amazing!"

"You planning on sharing?" Draco asked.

"Of course." Grace said, shuffling over. Draco shook his head and walked over. Grace slid off the bed and walked over to the dresser in the corner of the room. "Hey! There's stuff in here!" She pulled out the skirt, shirt, blouse and tie of the uniform. "Is this what I have to wear?"

"I guess." Draco said. "That is if you want to attend classes for the rest of the year."

"We had better things at Beauxbatons." Grace said, putting the stuff away and opening another drawer. Draco walked over. "There's stuff for you too. This thing is huge."

"How about finding something to sleep in." Draco said, yawning. Grace nodded and opened yet another drawer. She found a pair of pyjamas and changed with her back to Draco. He just stripped down to his boxers and crawled into the bed. Grace joined him soon after.

The rest of the holidays were devoted to showing Grace around the school. She compared pretty much everything to Beauxbatons and Harry was getting reminded very much of Fleur when she was there for the Tournament. When they weren't showing Grace around, the five of them were getting told what they would be expected to do. Defence Against the Dark Arts seemed to be the only class that none of them would have too much difficulty with. After a lengthy chat with Snape, he was reinstated as the DADA teacher.

"Bloody hell why are classes so early?" Ron asked, dropping his head onto the table as he sat down in the Great Hall. Grace giggled and looked over at the Slytherin table. This was the first time since being there that she wasn't sitting with Draco. She saw him looking at her and both of the smiled at each other. "Now I remember why I was so happy in September when we didn't come back."

"Oh Ron." Hermione said. "Honestly, if we ever have children I hope that they don't inherit your sulking."

"Children??" Ron asked, his head shooting up.

"IF, Ronald, IF!" Hermione said. Ron seemed to relax and dove into the food.

"It's good to be back." Harry said.

"We've all missed you." Ginny said. Grace rolled her eyes at the couples before returning her attention to her food. After the meal, they headed out to the greenhouses.

"Good morning students, I trust that after the fiasco on Christmas, this shouldn't be too difficult." Professor Sprout said, letting them into one of the greenhouses. "Now, we do have a new student in our midst and I'm pretty sure all of you know who she is and you know about her so I don't want to hear anything out of you lot if she isn't as caught up as you."

"I think she likes you." Harry whispered to Grace, who smiled. Surprisingly, she didn't have too much trouble keeping up with the rest of the class, with help from Hermione of course.

There was Transfiguration after Herbology in which Grace was allowed to sit and watch the other students instead of participating. She was to copy notes however. She practically jumped on Draco after lunch out of the Defence classroom. He hadn't been in the Great Hall during lunch so she wasn't able to walk with him.

"Well hello to you too." Draco said, returning the hug. "Have a good morning?"

"Yeah, it was fine." Grace said. They stepped apart as Snape rounded the corner, carrying a box. Draco stared at the professor and then started to laugh. Grace began laughing with him when she realized what was funny. Everyone stared at them as if they had lost it.

"If Mr. Malfoy and Miss Turner can control themselves sometime soon…" Snape said.

"Sorry." Draco said. Grace pressed her hand against her mouth, hoping to stifle the noise. She couldn't help it though.

"Do you bring food to classes as well?" Grace asked, causing Draco to start laughing again. Everyone was shocked, if not amazed, by the fact that Snape actually smiled slightly at the two instead of scolding them. No one still seemed to get it however. The two calmed down by the time they took their seats next to each other near the front of the class. Blaise Zambini was also at their table, on Draco's other side. There was a quick introduction between him and Grace before Snape started the class.

Not one student left that class unharmed afterwards. Some had just a few scratches; some had a broken finger which Snape repaired before dismissing them…all had bruises forming.

"Well…that was actually the best Defence Against the Dark Arts class we've had since Lupin taught." Ron said.

"I guess he and Snape must have talked." Harry said. Grace and Draco grinned. "What were you two laughing about?"

"Oh…when I was…you know…Snape always brought me food in a box." Grace said.

"That's why I started laughing." Draco said. "I saw him do it quite a few times and then just seeing him walking around a corner with a box brought it back."

"Oooh." Ron said. They headed to the dungeons for potions with the rest of the Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh years. Harry put his hand on Grace's shoulder to steer her the right way since she was about to go the wrong way. Grace winced since she was pretty sure there was a bruise on her shoulder from last class.

"Compared to what we just went through, that class was easy." Hermione said.

"Afternoon students, come in, come in." Slughorn said. They all piled in. Slughorn stopped Grace. "You must be Grace, pleasure to finally meet you. I hope you enjoy this class. If there's anything at all you need, just ask. I'm very easy to talk to, aren't I Harry?"

"Uh…yeah…very easy." Harry said. Grace giggled as she once again sat with Draco and Blaise.

"He's a little bit disappointed." Blaise informed her. "Since Snape's back and McGonagall renamed him head of Slytherin so now Slug's just back to being potions teacher."

"Oh." Grace said. "That's him disappointed?" Blaise grinned and nodded. At the table next to them, Harry, who heard what Blaise said, laughing slightly. Hermione hit him and shushed him as Slughorn started the lesson. They were to work with the people they sat with to create a potion. It would take the whole next month to complete if done properly.

"I'm guessing you were never good with potions?" Draco asked, noticing the look on Grace's face.

"It's not that." Grace said. "I did this potion in fourth year and I never got to finish it because it was a year end assignment." Draco stared at her. "What? I was good in potions so the teacher gave me it to do since I was already done the one the rest of the class was on."

"Great, then you can take control." Blaise said, looking relieved. Grace smiled. She gave them each a job to do and the three of them got to work. By the end of the class, they were farther along then everyone else. "Draco man, I think I just got myself a new favourite person in your girl here." Draco just laughed a bit and put his arm around Grace's shoulders.

* * *

Ok so I'm gonna keep going for the rest of the school year then get a very cool graduation thing happening and then the story will be finished. 


	20. Father Figure Much

**Father Figure Much**

Ok so I'm not quite sure when Draco's birthday is so I'm just going to go with what I did in my last Harry Potter story and make it sometime in March, even though I think that's when Ron's is…can't quite remember. Oh well.

* * *

January turned out to be quite the uneventful month. Apart from the fact that Snape was actually doing a good job (by Harry and Ron's standards anyways) at teaching Defence, nothing else seemed to be different. Although it was almost quite common knowledge now that Draco and Grace were together, no one really was sure if they were actually, well, together. They spent time with each other all the time, sat together in the classes they had together and because of their refusal to actually be separated, they had their own room. Grace had eased into Hogwarts living and had been able to go down to Hogsmeade in the trip they had in January.

"Are you going to do it?" Blaise asked, fooling around with his quill as he balanced it on its tip.

"Do what?" Draco asked, leaning back in his chair, staring at the work in front of him wishing it could do itself. They were on a free period so they sat in the library until they had to go to Defence class.

"Man, the next Hogsmeade trip is on Valentine's again." Blaise said. Draco rocked a bit. "And there's some party thing going on that's like some sort of dance."

"Uh huh." Draco said, pretty sure he knew where this was going.

"Oh come on man, just ask Gracie girl out." Blaise said. He had gotten pretty friendly with Grace and was now seemingly the only person that could get away with calling her 'Gracie'.

"Since when do I ask girls out?" Draco asked.

"Since everyone thinks you and said girl are already together but no one can quite prove it." Blaise said. "Course everyone also thought Potter and Granger would wind up together but she went with Weasley…"

"Exactly. I don't have to do what they all want." Draco said.

"Well what about what you want?" Blaise asked. "Come on…just ask her next period."

"Oh yeah sure." Draco said. "In the class taught by the man who might as well be her father now. Good idea."

"Hey man, Snape likes you." Blaise said. "And in case you haven't noticed, because guys are unaware of what's going on with you and her, they've been giving her looks."

"Looks?" Draco asked.

"Yep." Blaise said. "You know those…'I want you bad' kinda things." Draco's eyes narrowed slightly as he stopped rocking. "Let's face it man. Gracie's attractive and the more comfortable she gets here, the more comfortable she'll be with some other guy." Draco dropped his chair back onto all four legs with a bang. Blaise could tell he had won.

"Fine I'll do it." Draco said, starting to pack his stuff up. "But I'll do it tonight when it's just me and her." Blaise rolled his eyes. On the other hand…

"So when do you think he's going to ask you?" Hermione asked.

"Who and what?" Grace asked.

"You know…the next Hogsmeade trip has a party thing going on…on Valentine's Day." Hermione said.

"Ok…so what's your point?" Grace asked.

"Gosh you really don't get it." Hermione said. Grace raised an eyebrow. "Valentine's Day…day of love…everyone talking about you and Draco…"

"We're…I don't know what we are." Grace said.

"Do you guys do anything apart from the little kisses at greetings and such?" Hermione asked. Grace thought about it and shook her head. "Weird…"

"I think Snape's gotten him a bit…paranoid seems to be the right word." Grace said.

"Yes I've noticed the way he's acting when you're concerned now." Hermione said. "Although everyone is very well aware of the fact that you're getting good marks because you can and not by special treatment."

"Yep." Grace said, nodding. "Although I do get some treatment."

"Yeah." Hermione said. They passed the library and a second later Draco and Blaise came out of it.

"Hey you two." Draco called. The girls stopped and waited for them to catch up. Draco shifted his books and put an arm around Grace. Hermione gave Grace a look before smiling slightly. Grace just giggled and pushed her friend.

"So Gracie, up for your first real holiday in a few years?" Blaise asked.

"Since when does Valentine's count as a holiday?" Grace asked. "You don't get the day off from school with it."

"True." Blaise said. "But you do get gifts if you're lucky." Grace giggled again. They walked to DADA class. When Snape opened the door his eyes fell on Draco and Grace almost instantly. The young man carefully slid his arm off the girl, causing Grace and Hermione to laugh as they made their way into the classroom.

"You were right." Grace said.

"I usually am." Hermione said. "You all seem surprised almost every time." They sat at their tables, Grace now sitting between Draco and Blaise.

"I've been told that you students have been expecting to learn patronuses." Snape said. "How many of you still want that?" Most hands rose in the air. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco just relaxed for they all knew it already. Grace put her hand up when she caught Snape looking at her. "Very well then. Everyone stand up, it's best to do this in an open space."

"Don't we know it." Ron said. Snape narrowed his eyes at him as the class stood. The tables and chairs were pushed against walls.

"Now then…those of you that do know how to produce a patronus, step forward and do so." Snape said. Draco was the only Slytherin. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville stepped forward. Lavender, Parvati, Seamus and Dean knew the idea behind patronuses but could never manage to create them during their DA lessons back in fifth year.

"Expecto Patronum!" The five students shouted. A stag, an otter, a dog, a phoenix and a rather large toad all erupted into the room.

(((A/N: Again, not quite sure if Neville has a patronus but I thought it would be interesting to give him a toad.)))

The class applauded.

"Can you do it professor?" One of the Slytherin girls asked.

"Of course I can." Snape said. He created his patronus, the doe. Grace looked up at him a bit sadly. She had never told Harry what she had found out about Snape being in love with his mother…or that the grumpy professor's patronus was the same as what Lily's was. There was more applause and all the patronuses vanished. Grace wasn't quite up to creating one so she was glad that Snape had spent the entire class teaching the students what to do instead of having them try it.

"We know this…couldn't we have just skipped out on this class?" Ron muttered loud enough for Hermione, Grace and Harry to hear. Hermione scolded him. Sadly, it seemed that Snape had heard.

"If I can track one down, I will have a boggart in here tomorrow so that you all may practise on it." He announced. Grace glared at Ron.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked once they were out of the class. "You've seen us do it loads of times."

"Yeah but I've never done it." Grace said. "Remember when you tried to teach me how to and I just couldn't manage?"

"Oh…right." Harry said. "Well…maybe Snape will cut you a break and you won't have to."

"I don't think so." Grace said. Draco, after a quick little kiss to Grace, separated from them as they entered the Great Hall and joined Blaise and the others at the Slytherin table.

"I thought owls came at breakfast." Ron said, noticing two owls flying into the hall as they sat down.

"So did I." Grace said. The owls landed in front of them. Ron and Grace looked at each other before taking the letters and opening them. There was a pause and then a grin broke out on Ron's face as Grace squealed.

"What? What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Bill and Fleur…they're…they…" Ron said.

"Going to have a baby!!" Grace said, clapping her hands.

"And they have Grace as godmother and aren't quite sure about godfather yet." Ron said, looking back at the letter in his hands. "Bill wrote me, Fleur wrote Grace. He says that he told Fleur not to but she said that she just had to."

"Yep, that's Fleur." Grace said, smiling. "Always doing what she wants."

"You realize how much of a challenge it would have been if we had Grace back at the wedding?" Ron asked. "I think Fleur might have come close to pulling her hair out trying to figure out who to use as maid of honour."

"She still would have gone with Gabrielle." Hermione said. Grace nodded.

"Well see ya later Grace." Harry said, once they all finished eating and were heading out of the hall. The Trio headed up the marble staircase and Grace hung around the outside of the hall.

"You know she's waiting for you." Blaise said. "I betcha anything she's waiting."

"Yeah, and I'm going." Draco said.

"Don't forget to do what I told you, mate." Blaise said. Draco narrowed his eyes at his friend before leaving the hall. Grace was right there, where she usually was if she left first with no intentions of hanging out with anyone.

"Hey." Draco said, coming up to her. Grace looked up and smiled. They walked to their room with little spoken. Grace said the password and they walked in. "You know I'm starting to think that McGonagall had planned for us to be coming back to school."

"Took you a month to realize that?" Grace asked, smiling. "I figured that out in the first week. I mean…why else would there already be this room conveniently set up for us?"

"Fine so I'm a bit slow at taken in the obvious." Draco said.

"That's for sure." Grace said, quietly. Draco raised an eyebrow. She sat down on the couch and opened one of her books. Draco decided to go into the kitchen for a drink and try to come up with a good way of asking her. Why was this so hard?? He was the king of sweet talking girls. He was great at talking with Grace. So why was this getting to be such a problem?

The answer was pretty obvious: because he wasn't trying to sweet talk her. Sweet talking was just a bunch of flattering non-sense that he threw around. He wasn't trying to do that with Grace, he was trying to ask her out on a date…something he had never actually done. If he needed a date, girls usually came to him and all he had to do was pick. He liked Grace far too much to do something like that. Then why did he have to choose his words so carefully? Shouldn't he just be able to ask her?

"Merlin this is annoying." Draco muttered, running his hand through his hair. He had to get it cut soon. He hadn't cut it since before running from the school and now it was making him look like Ron but with blonde hair. Or maybe he could just start tying it back. Draco stopped his train of thought when he realized that he had gone from a huge issue to something that was just really not that important.

"Are you ok?" Grace asked, leaning against the doorway. "You've been standing still for like…two minutes."

"Oh." Draco said. "Just uh…umm…thinking."

"Ok…about what?" Grace asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Uh…well…it's umm…" Draco said. Grace giggled. "What?"

"You…you're stuttering." Grace said. "That is so cute." Draco mock glared at her. "Oh no…the evil Slytherin is glaring at me. Whatever shall I do?"

"Well I can think of a few things." Draco said. He mentally slapped himself at the suggestion. Grace raised an eyebrow. "Never mind, bad idea." Grace tilted her head curiously. "You don't want to know."

"Yes I do." Grace said.

"No you don't." Draco said.

"And how would you know what I want?" Grace asked.

"Oh no…you've been doing girl talk with Granger haven't you." Draco said.

"So what if I have?" Grace asked. Draco chuckled. "What?" He reached forward and put his hand on her cheek.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" Draco said. He surprised himself as well as Grace.

"Thanks." Grace said. They were quiet for a while. Grace sighed. "Draco."

"Yeah?" Draco asked.

"Are you gonna kiss me sometime soon or should I do it?" Grace asked. Both of them laughed and Draco bent down to kiss her. After a moment, Grace stepped closer and wound her arms around his neck as his hand slid from her cheek to the back of her head and the other took up residence on her waist. The kiss deepened and wound up more passionate until Draco found himself sitting on the edge of the table. The hand he had on her waist was now on the table to help keep balance. They pulled away, breathing heavily.

"This…might sound a bit silly now." Draco said. "But…do you wanna go to the…Valentine's thing…with me?" Grace managed a small laugh as she leaned her forehead against his. Draco's eyes dropped to the bare necklace. He still hadn't quite gotten used to her not having a necklace.

"Ok." Grace said. "I'll go with you. It's about time you asked." This time Draco laughed.

* * *

Ok so a little bit of making out there. Next chapter gets Valentine's and the next one after that I think I'll do Draco's birthday. 


	21. Party

**Party**

Ok so this chapter is, of course, Valentine's day. Some jaw dropping in here and Ron being silly and whiney.

* * *

"Why do girls have to take forever?" Ron complained. Draco and Harry shrugged. Since Hermione and Ginny were going to be helping Grace get ready, they decided to do so in Grace and Draco's room so the boys decided they might as well just sit and wait for them as the three girls vanished with a bunch of stuff into the bathroom.

"I don't know but at this rate we're going to be late." Draco said, saying the last five words loudly and received giggles from the bathroom as a reply. The three boys groaned and dropped their heads onto the backs of the couch (or in Draco's case, the chair). "Valentine's day bites."

"Amen!" The other two chorused, raising their hands as if to toast.

"Well next year we won't bother looking nice for you boys." Ginny said, finally coming out of the bathroom in a red strapless dress. Before Ron could say anything, Hermione stepped out wearing a pink tank top and skirt that had a heart hanging in the middle of the neckline and a strand of hearts around the waist of the skirt. Harry and Ron just stared at their girlfriends.

"Alright Gin, you were right about them being speechless." Hermione said. She turned around. "Grace come on out, you look amazing."

"Yeah…I haven't worn anything like this…ever!" Grace called. Ginny sighed and went back into the bathroom. She came out pulling Grace. Draco's jaw dropped. Grace was in a dark burgundy, silky looking strapless dress that barely reached her knees. Her blonde hair was beautifully arranged to fall down in waves over her shoulders and the make-up on her eyes made the blue stand out brilliantly.

Ron looked at Draco before putting a finger on the other boy's chin and easing his jaw back shut. Harry snickered.

"Umm…it would be nice if someone said something." Grace said. "I'm kinda not feeling a hundred percent good here."

"You are good!" Hermione said. "We told you a dozen times already."

"Yeah but your girls." Grace said.

"You look great Grace." Ron said. "Really nice." He elbowed Draco.

"Bloody hell you look amazing." Draco said, finally regaining the ability to speak. Grace blushed a bit.

"Ok then, let's get going." Ginny said. Everyone grabbed their jackets and headed out.

The three couples headed down to the entrance hall which was packed with a bunch of other couples. Grace looked around at all of them. Draco had his arm over her shoulders and she was holding his hand. She turned her eyes to the floor a bit in front of her as people looked at them.

"What's stranger…Slytherin prince with a Gryffindor or Draco Malfoy with the people who were once considered his arch enemies?" Ginny asked. Grace smiled and lifted her eyes again, glad to know that there was some humour in this.

"Hmm…tough one." Harry said.

"Oh bugger off." Draco said, tightening his arm on Grace slightly. She didn't mind. The crowd started moving so they moved too.

"Wow." Grace said as they entered the building the party was being held in.

"You're saying that a lot." Draco said. "But yeah…definitely wow." You could clearly tell it was a valentine's party but it wasn't classically decorated to look like it. There were the average decorations but they were arranged to not look like sappy children styled decorations.

"Come girls, let's dance." Ginny said, handing her jacket to Harry. Grace and Hermione followed suit, handing theirs to Ron and Draco, before the three of them bounded off to the dance floor.

"How do we get left with the coats?" Draco asked, following Harry until they found a table.

"I don't know…you're the master of dates here." Harry said. Draco laughed and shook his head.

"Not really." He said. They sat down and took off their jackets. They did an anti-theft charm around the table just as the girls all came back and dragged them along to the floor.

"They told me to do it." Grace said, answering Draco's questioning look. He smiled as the song changed. "Oh great…slow song…hate those."

"Really now?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, they aren't fun." Grace said.

"Well maybe they weren't fun because you never had someone to dance with." Draco said. He took her hands and put them over his shoulders before putting his arms around her.

"Hmm…true." Grace said.

"You know you really do look amazing." Draco said.

"Really?" Grace asked.

"Really." Draco said. "And I like this material." He stopped himself before he could say something inappropriate. Grace smiled.

They danced for a while. Eventually at different points in the evening Grace had danced with Harry and Ron and had danced with both Ginny and Hermione a bunch of times. She was worn out by the time they had to head back up to the castle. Ron joked about her needing to be carried and Draco scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way to their room.

"You like tiring yourself out don't you, babe?" He asked.

"Well if it means getting carried to bed then sure." Grace said. Draco chuckled and said the password before walking into their room. He finally put her down on her feet and they walked together into the bedroom. Grace caused a few of the candles to light before turning to Draco. "Thank you."

"For what?" Draco asked.

"For a fun evening." Grace said. "And for always being with me." She put her hands on his shoulder before kissing him. Draco's hand moved to the back of her head before he pressed his lips to hers a bit harder. Soon his tongue swept over her lips and she willingly parted them to allow it entrance. Grace moaned and found herself backed up to the bed. It was only another few seconds before she was on her back on it. One of Draco's hands was next to her head, used as a way to keep him up. The other was down on one of Grace's legs. Said leg was bent, causing the dress to ride up a bit on her thighs. His hand moved from her knee down over her thigh slightly, moving the dress up a bit more. Grace wiggled beneath him and Draco realized what he was doing. He put his hand on the bed next to her waist and leaned back from the kiss.

"Sorry…I…I didn't mean…" Draco said. Grace put a finger over his mouth to stop him from talking.

"Not yet, ok?" She said. Draco nodded and kissed her again, softly.

"Miss Turner, Professor Snape wishes to speak with you in his office." Filch said as Grace entered the Great Hall the next morning. She jumped so badly she accidentally stepped on Draco's foot.

"Sorry…now?" Grace asked.

"That's what he said." Filch said. Grace sighed and turned around. She headed over to Snape's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Snape called. Grace entered and closed the door behind her.

"You know this office is kinda creepy." She said, looking around. She had heard about it from Harry but it was different from what he had described. Probably because of the change of teaching position meant a change in decorating.

"So I've been told." Snape said. "Sit." Grace sat down. She waited for him to say something but he did nothing.

"Umm…what did you want to see me for?" Grace asked, slowly.

"It has been brought to my attention that you and Mr. Malfoy are…a couple now." Snape said.

"Uh huh." Grace said, slowly again. "Are you going to do that father thing?? Like…tell me that I should be careful with who I date and all because I've had that lecture already."

"I just want you to be careful, yes." Snape said. "I know the Malfoys. Now even though his father was killed during the fight, there's still his mother…"

"I've talked to her." Grace said.

"And?" Snape asked.

"What and?" Grace asked. "We talked…I told her of how Draco was the one that got me out, didn't tell her how and that was it. She asked me a few questions about myself but I gave her little answers. I don't think she was very pleased with that actually now that I remember it."

"Well you two do have a better chance without Lucius Malfoy around but I don't think it's wise for you to become too close." Snape said. Grace rolled her eyes. "At least take into consideration what I'm telling you."

"Ok, I will, I promise." Grace said. "I have to get to Herbology now." Snape nodded and Grace left. She couldn't concentrate at all through the whole class because what Snape had said was nagging away at her mind.

* * *

Overprotective much? Well…maybe…maybe not. 


	22. Such a Cute Kitty

**Such a Cute Kitty**

Straight from February into March…wow, time flies…lol.

* * *

"So what do you want for your birthday?" Grace asked. She lay on the bed with her hair falling over her shoulders and reaching down her curved back to her waist as she held herself up on her elbows. Her knees were bent as she swung her feet in the air.

(((A/N: Hmm…sounds a bit familiar doesn't it? Lol…first chapter.)))

Her hands, in loose fists, held her chin up and she alternated gazing down at her potions book and over at Draco, who sat at the desk they had, transfiguration book open in front of him but Grace was quite sure he hadn't turned the page in over half an hour…and he was a fast reader. His mind seemed to be very far.

"Umm…I don't know." Draco said, tapping his fingers on his thigh as he thought. Grace dropped a foot onto the pillows and swung the other one slowly.

"How about I put Harry into a bikini and make him do a dance for you?" She asked, carefully.

"Ok, whatever." Draco said. He froze and then looked over at her. "Wait a second…you'll do what to Potter?"

"Whatcha thinking about, Draco?" Grace asked, dropping the other foot before swinging both around so that she could sit up on the edge of the bed.

"Nothing, nothing." Draco said.

"Lying." Grace said.

"It's nothing…just…thinking." Draco said.

"Yeah, I figured that." Grace said, getting up and walking over behind the chair he sat in. She leaned over, putting her arms over his shoulders and linking her hands in front of his chest. "You're turning eighteen in a week. I know it's not a big deal in our world but with muggles that's pretty huge."

"Still a bit of a big deal here." Draco said.

"Well it's also the first birthday either of us have spent with the other. So what's got you so deep in thought?" Grace asked, releasing her hands and dragging them up Draco's chest to his shoulders as she straightened before she began massaging them. He sighed and rolled his head back, his eyes closed. "Come on, hun, tell me."

"It's just my mother." Draco said, enjoying her hands far too much to want talk at that moment.

"What about her?" Grace asked.

"She wants me to spend my birthday at home with her but I wanna spend it here with you." Draco said.

"Isn't there some sort of…compromise you two could come up with?" Grace asked, pressing a bit harder. Draco groaned lightly, his head rolling forward. Grace rolled her eyes and crouched down a bit. "What makes me think there already is a compromise but you're not a very big fan of it?"

"She said that if that's what I want then why not just bring you up with me?" Draco said, pretty much talking to his lap.

"You don't like the idea of me being around your mother?" Grace asked, thinking about what Snape had told her a few times.

"If I had even the slightest inclination that she would be civil and nice, then I wouldn't have a problem." Draco said. "But she's…she's my mother…any girl in my life that isn't someone she or father handpicked is practically unworthy."

"Oh." Grace said. "Well it's a good thing I never held any thoughts of her liking me."

"Hmm…" Draco said, now getting a bit too caught up in the massage to really pay attention.

"Well why not do it?" Grace asked.

"What now?" Draco asked, lifting his head.

"Well…if it'll make her happy, then go spend your birthday with her." Grace said. Draco started saying something but she stopped him. "And if it'll make you happy then I'll go too."

"Really?" Draco asked, leaning his head back. "You'll put up with it?"

"Sure." Grace said. "I'm here to make you feel happy…and you're here to make me feel safe. Besides, I don't think she'll settle for just the one day and I honestly don't know what I'd do without you here."

"Merlin…you are amazing." Draco said. He reached up and put his hand on the back of her neck before pulling her down to kiss her. This time Grace was the one to groan. She pulled away after a bit though.

"I still have homework to do or else Slughorn's gonna be unbearably 'disappointed'." Grace said. Draco laughed. She returned to the bed and resumed her earlier position. This time when she was glancing at Draco, she caught him turning pages every so often.

"Why did we agree to come back again?" Harry asked, dropping down next to Grace the next morning in the Great Hall.

"Haven't a clue." Ron said, dropping into the seat across the table from them.

"What's wrong now?" Grace asked.

"The NEWTs is what's wrong." Ron said. "How come you're not in a near death state?"

"Maybe it's because she doesn't have to do them." Hermione said, sitting down next to Ron.

"WHAT?!! Why not? How come she gets out of it??" Ron asked. "We missed the first half the year too!"

"Yeah but you were also here for the last three." Grace said. "And I don't get out of them. I just get a different…sort of modified version."

"What she means is she pretty much gets the OWLs standards." Harry said, pouring syrup on his pancakes and watching as the thick brown liquid fell from the container.

"I think that's enough Harry." Grace said, taking the container from him to save the pancakes from drowning.

"Yeah I guess you're right." Harry said. "Merlin, I thought the OWLs were bad but this seems to be even worse."

"Well on the plus side, no Umbridge this time." Ron said.

"How is that a plus?" Harry asked.

"Just trying to lighten the mood." Ron said.

"You realize this isn't fair to me when you start thinking about it." Harry said.

"How so?" Hermione asked.

"Like I said, think about it." Harry said. "I had the exams in first year, the whole school got out of them in second, did them in third year, got out of them in fourth year because of the tournament, went through the OWLs fifth year and didn't do any last year."

(((A/N: I'm trying to remember if he did or not and I can't so let's just say he didn't.)))

"Bloody hell he's right." Ron said. "He's only been through half his exams…that isn't fair."

"Oh nonsense." Hermione said. "Harry's doing well in his classes, he has no reason not to take the NEWTs."

"Yeah except I should be allowed out of them for saving the whole bloody school." Harry said. Grace coughed. "With Grace's help of course." Ron and Hermione narrowed their eyes at him. "Oh alright, with everyone's help."

"Yeah but you did a lot of it." Grace said. "I mean…you died for all of us. Still not quite sure how you're here though but I'm not complaining." She hugged Harry then sat back and resumed eating. "I got a bit of a problem."

"What's up?" Ron asked, mouth full of food.

"Why do you always do that?" Grace asked. "Talk with your mouth full?" Ron shrugged. "Well anyways Draco's birthday is next week…" The boys rolled their eyes. "And I still don't know what to get him."

"Anything…the guy likes ya, he won't care." Ron said.

"It's not just that." Grace said. "But we're spending his birthday at his house…with his mom there. And he's as sure as I am that she's not gonna treat me friendly."

"Then don't go." Harry said.

"Yeah, trying to make a good impression here." Grace said. "I don't need someone out there still trying to kill me. Hermione…help me out here."

"I'm sorry Grace but with things the way they are, I'm kinda agreeing with Harry and Ron." Hermione said. Grace groaned. "But I think going might make her a bit nicer…although she might consider you a bit of a push over."

"I'm doomed." Grace said.

"Of course if you want to make him happy and if his making his mother happy would do that then I'd say go." Ginny said, walking along behind Grace and sitting on Harry's other side.

"What the…where did…how do you do that?" Ron asked. Ginny just smirked at her brother.

"It's not like you'll be held hostage there." She said. "I'm pretty sure you'll be free to leave whenever you want to and if not then McGonagall will send out search parties before the end of week if Snape doesn't beat her to it." That got the other four laughing.

"What's in the box?" Ron asked when they made their way to DADA class. Grace shrugged and jumped as the box shook. Snape whacked it with his wand and it fell still. "I'm sitting in the back." Grace raised an eyebrow.

"Before any of you make any remarks, this is not a class on magical creatures but since it seems that it is pointless to teach any of you anything on Fridays anymore…" Snape said. "Kneazle."

"Bless you." A few people said.

"No, I didn't sneeze, it's the name…" Snape said, tapping the box again. The sides fell to reveal a cat like creature with spotted fur, large ears and a tail like a lion. A few people seemed nervous. A few of the girls awed. Grace just stared at it and it stared right back at her and twitched its tail. "It is one of the most intelligent creatures that do not speak…at least not a language we understand. Who else knows anything about these creatures…apart from Granger?" Hermione shrugged as eyes turned her way. No one said anything and Snape opened his mouth to continue.

"It's reliable enough that, should you own one and get lost, it'll lead you home." Grace said.

"Correct. Miss Turner, would you care to tell us more?" Snape asked.

"They require a license no matter what country you live in for legal ownership." Grace said. "The ministry of magic has classified it as a triple X magical creature."

"Who knows what she means?" Snape asked. Ron raised his hand. "Weasley?"

"The ministry categorizes the magical creatures we know of." Ron said. "Its ratings are from one X to five, one being the lowest."

"Very good." Snape said, turning to the board. More people seemed a bit skeptical having the teacher turn his back on the Kneazle as it sat perched on his desk, watching them. He drew an X on the board. "What is the first one?"

"Boring." Ron said. Snape wrote that.

"Second one?" He asked.

"Wizards are able to domesticate and train those creatures in that category." Hermione said. Snape wrote the main bit next to where he had drawn an XX. He drew XXX.

"Strong wizards are able to handle the creatures in that category." Draco said. Snape wrote then drew four Xs.

"Only skilled witches or wizards should handle such creatures." Hermione said. "They require specialist knowledge since they are still very dangerous."

"And the last one…" Snape said, writing and drawing again. The three that already answered said nothing.

"Those creatures in that category are known as wizard killers. They are impossible to domesticate or train and should only be approached if need be." Grace said, her eyes still locked on the Kneazle.

"The Kneazle is a three." Snape said, turning back to face the class. "As Mr. Malfoy has said, strong wizards are able to handle them."

"They can be pets though." Harry said. "Grace said that you need a license to own one."

"That is correct." Snape said, reaching into his desk. "She would know."

"Huh? Why?" Blaise asked. Snape pulled out a rolled up parchment and walked over to stand in front of Grace before putting the roll down.

"Because she owns one." He said. All eyes snapped over to Grace. "This one to be more specific." Grace's eyes finally left the cat like creature to look up at the professor. Everything was silent.

"Wait a minute, hold up." Grace said. "That…that can't be mine."

"Why not?" Snape asked, simply.

"Well because…because…" Grace said. "My parents have been dead for three years and I was locked up. Mine could be…god only knows where."

"It was only a little cub when you last saw it." Snape said. Grace nodded. "I did quite a few things in that time."

"This honestly cannot be…" Grace started.

"Call it." Snape said. "Prove me wrong." Harry knew that tone. Snape was challenging Grace. Harry himself, after hearing those three words, believed the creature to be Grace's because Snape never used that specific challenging tone without knowing he would win.

"Oh for…fine." Grace said. She slid her blue eyes back to the Kneazle. "Sekhmet." Almost instantly, the cat like creature dropped from the desk, bounded the few steps forward before leaping onto the desk in front of Grace before jumping onto the girl's lap. Blaise and Draco slid their chairs sideways to avoid getting hit. People stared at the creature brushed its head against Grace's hand…and purred, loudly. Snape gave Grace his own little 'I told you so' look.

"These creatures are very protective and aggressive when need be." He said, directing the whole class as Grace started patting her long lost pet.

"Where was it the day when…" Harry started but stopped. Grace looked at Snape. He avoided, actually avoided looking at her.

"He had her." Grace said.

"I did the same for her as I did for you." Snape said. "I did both on his orders."

"You were going to give her back once he had me around his finger so that he not only had me but he had a fearsomely aggressive creature at his side with little effort." Grace said. Snape just nodded. Sekhmet dropped off Grace's lap and sat between her and Draco. Grace looked at Draco and couldn't help but grin as he was looking very cautiously at the cat.

* * *

I got the information off of the Harry Potter Fan Zone website. There's a bunch of creatures on that thing and I wanted to give Grace an overly protective pet. 


	23. Facing Mrs Malfoy

**Facing Mrs. Malfoy**

Now it's time for all hell to break loose!! Lol…not really, but close enough.

* * *

"You know I like that cat." Draco said.

"Yeah." Grace said, not looking up from the book she was reading.

"And it does a good job at guarding stuff." Draco said.

"Uh huh." Grace said.

"But does it always have to sit between you and me? Lay on the bed between you and me…practically be a barrier between the two of us?" Draco asked.

"Aww, Sekhmet's just doing what's in her nature." Grace said, looking up and petting the cat that sat on the couch between her and the Slytherin. "Remember she's very protective."

"Yeah but I distinctly remember hearing you tell her that she doesn't have to be towards me." Draco said. Sekhmet turned her head and looked at Draco. "Grace it's giving me that look again." Grace rolled her eyes and clicking her tongue before pushing the cat gently.

"Alright kitty, up." She said. "Off the couch." Sekhmet rose, stretched, then jumped off the couch and walked over to curl up in front of the fireplace. "Happy now?"

"Yeah." Draco said. Grace giggled and moved over to take the cat's spot. "So ready to leave tomorrow morning?"

"Yep." Grace said. "Did you tell your mom about me having to bring Sekhmet?"

"Yeah." Draco said. "She didn't care too much. Thought it would be interesting to meet a Kneazle." Grace nodded.

The next morning they walked away from the school towards Hogsmeade. By now, Grace had already taken her apparation test and passed so that's how they were going to arrive. Of course she'd be doing a side-along with Draco because she had no idea where the hell she was going but the point is that she could do it and once she knew where she was, she could just as easily get out of there if need be.

"I really need a new word to say that isn't 'wow'." Grace said as they appeared in front of the Malfoy Manor. Sekhmet's tail flicked as the cat started forward. The teens followed and Draco pushed open the door.

"Master Malfoy!!" Grace jumped as a little house elf in a towel came at them with a smile. It stopped and bowed.

"Hello Abby. This is Grace." Draco said. Grace looked at Draco and he caught the look. "Just because I wasn't nice to Dobby doesn't mean I'm a jerk to the rest of them. Dobby hated me too before I started being mean."

"Oh." Grace said.

"It is very nice to meet you Miss Grace." Abby said, bowing again. The elf to Draco. "Your mother is waiting in the den."

"Right. Can you get our stuff and Sekhmet here up to my room?" Draco asked. The cat's eyes instantly turned on Draco but he just ignored it so, as another elf came out of no where, Sekhmet followed them, her tail swaying. "Well…let's go."

"Umm…ok." Grace said. Draco took her hand and led her through the house. Grace wondered curiously what was behind most of the doors as they passed many closed ones. They finally stopped and Draco knocked on the door before opening it.

Narcissa Malfoy sat in a large chair in the middle of a square room that actually looked rather homely. There were moving pictures all around. Grace looked around with interest. It looked quite like the family room at her own house. She was so interested in looking around she didn't feel Draco let go of her hand or hear them talking. She did feel a hand go on her shoulder and squeeze lightly. Grace jumped and smiled apologetically at her boyfriend.

"Sorry." She said. "This is a really lovely room."

"I think so too…thus the reason why I'm in here quite a bit." Mrs. Malfoy said. "Sit." It wasn't a request and Grace knew it. She walked with Draco over to the couch across from his mother. "Well, I haven't spoken with you since Christmas."

"No." Grace said, shaking her head.

"You do realize I still want those questions answered." Mrs. Malfoy said. Grace nodded. "Good." She turned her eyes to Draco. "How have you been?"

"Uh…good." Draco said. "Work load is piling up with the NEWTs coming up."

"I see…do you have to take them?" Mrs. Malfoy asked, looking at Grace again.

"Uh…not exactly." Grace said. Nothing was said for a bit after that. After a while they went to the dining room for lunch and then Draco opted to give Grace a tour of the house.

"Sorry about that." He said, once they were a reasonable distance away from his mother. "I told you how she was going to be."

"Yeah…it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Grace said.

"Really?" Draco asked.

"Well I kinda expected some interrogation or something." Grace said. Draco laughed. She slid her hand into his and he squeezed it slightly as he started showing her around. Most of the rooms he didn't mention or even bother with bringing up. That just got Grace more curious about them then before. After a while and exploring the first and second floors, her curiosity for something else came out. "So where's your room?"

"Impatient are we?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"Maybe." Grace said. He led her to his room and opened the door. It was pretty similar to the bedroom they shared at school except it seemed bigger and there was a big closet and a bathroom attached. Draco just lied on the bed with his hands beneath his head, watching her look around the room. Sekhmet came wandering out of the closet at one point and slipped out the door.

"Hope she doesn't make a mess or something." Draco said.

"Kneazle's are pretty good at sneaking." Grace said. "She'll be fine." She came over to the bed and climbed up before straddling Draco's hips. Draco raised an eyebrow, keeping his hands under his head as he looked up at her. "I feel kinda bad."

"Why?" Draco asked.

"I still haven't managed to get you a present." Grace said.

"Bloody hell, just coming with me is fantastic." Draco said, moving his hands to her hips. "You don't have to do anything else."

"Really?" Grace asked.

"Sure." Draco said. He flipped her off him so that she was lying next to him. He rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow. Grace looked up at him as his hand moved lightly over her bare stomach, crossing over many different scars. "I think we're even."

"With what?" Grace asked.

"Well…I saved you from Voldemort." Draco said. "And you saved me from having to become a Death Eater by killing him." Grace laughed. "I still owe you that Christmas present."

"No you don't." Grace said. "Christmas was three months ago, forget about it."

"Well see I can't." Draco said. "Because it was a rather nice gift."

"Well you'll just have to make it up to me later, won't you?" Grace said, smirking.

"Merlin, you hang around me too much." Draco said. "Starting to do things the way I do."

"Is that a bad thing?" Grace asked. Draco shook his head, smirking as well, before dipping his head down and kissing her. Grace reached up and wrapped an arm around his neck. He had started lifting her shirt when there was a knock on the door. Draco groaned and dropped his head onto the pillow next to Grace's head. She just giggled.

"I am sorry to interrupt Master Malfoy but your mother has requested a conversation with you." Abby said, opening the door slightly.

"Of course she does." Draco said. He looked at Grace. "Be right back, alright?"

"Yep." Grace said, kissing him quickly. Draco left.

"Master Malfoy is very fond of you miss." Abby said. Grace looked at the elf. "There was something quite interesting in your bag." With a raised eyebrow, she watched as Abby walked over to the closet and pulled out a small shopping bag. Grace stood and walked over to her. She reached inside and pulled out an emerald green, silky negligee. Grace stared at it, then at the note attached.

_Grace,_

_Mione and I both think it's about time you and Draco do something. We're both damn sure you haven't gotten him a gift so think of yourself as one in this little ensemble._

_Ginny & Hermione_

"Merlin those two are nuts." Grace said, her eyes wide. She stuffed the nightwear back into the bag as the door opened but it was only Sekhmet.

"Master Malfoy has a big surprise for you." Abby said, a huge smile brightening up her face. "Oh yes, very big. He had Abby help him."

"A surprise? What kind of surprise?" Grace asked.

"Oh no, miss. Abby cannot tell." Abby said, shaking her head. "No, no she can't. It's a secret and shall remain so until Master Malfoy tells miss himself." Grace huffed in disappointment as the elf disappeared with a pop. She walked over to the bookshelf and found something interesting to read before plopping down on the bed. Sekhmet jumped up next to her after a while.

* * *

Oh so many different surprises. 


	24. Surprise Honey

**Surprise Honey**

Sorry it's been a bit of a while since I last updated. A lot of shit has happened lately involving my great grandmother being in and out of the hospital and some other shit I'm not allowed talking about.

* * *

Draco yawned. Merlin, was he tired. He had barely spent any time with Grace that day. They returned to school the next day so that they could get their work from the classes they missed the previous day. It was Draco's birthday and he barely spent any of it with his girlfriend. It was mostly spent fending off his mother and taking care of some stuff. 

Ok so he kinda was trying to avoid Grace a few times but that was only when he was making final arrangements with Abby.

Little did he know, his girlfriend was doing the same thing with the house elf. Thus the reason why neither of them really weren't around the other that day.

"Master Malfoy, Master Malfoy!!" Abby called, running up to him.

"Are you gonna wish me Happy Birthday again?" Draco asked.

"Oh no, sir." Abby said. "I'm just doing as Miss Grace has instructed."

"She's instructed you has she?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes sir." Abby said. "Come, come now." She turned and led Draco to his bedroom. She knocked before opening the door and beckoning Draco in. Curious, Draco walked into the room and Abby closed the door. A pleasant smell filled the air as the bedroom was lit with candles.

"Grace?" Draco asked, looking around.

"One second." Grace called from the bathroom. Draco sat down on the bed. He raised an eyebrow, truly surprised by all of this. "Ok no laughing."

"At what?" Draco asked, looking at the bathroom door.

"Hermione and Ginny bought this." Grace said, opening the door and stepping out into view. Draco stared at her with his mouth hanging open. The green silk seemed to cling to her body, outlining all her curves and, dear Merlin, it was a wonderful sight. Grace looked absolutely gorgeous. Draco could tell that she probably had just gotten out of the shower because her body seemed to be wet still and her hair had that just washed look. "I couldn't think of anything else to do or give you and then Abby pointed out that this was in my bag and I guess I just took the girls' advice."

"Remind me to thank them later then." Draco said. Grace giggled, finally smiling. She walked over and sat next to him on the bed. "Merlin, you have no idea how irresistible you are right now."

"Really?" Grace asked. "Well why don't you tell me?"

"I'd rather show you." Draco said. Grace smiled more as Draco put his hand on the back of her head and brought her closer to kiss her. Grace shifted closer to him and pressed her lips firmer to his. Gods did Draco adore kissing her. Her whole being seemed to fit just perfectly with his own, like two puzzle pieces.

He suddenly remembered something and, with much effort, pulled back slightly from the woman before him.

"Happy birthday." Grace said. Draco chuckled and looked at her. She was honestly the most beautiful person he had ever known in so many ways.

"There's something I want ask you." Draco said.

"Um…ok." Grace said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"What I had wanted to give you for Christmas was…a little less special then this." Draco said. Grace tilted her head. She was stunning in the candle light. Draco shook his head slightly, he had to stay on track. "Anyways…you know…we've been through…quite a bit. And quite a few times I've promised to always be with you. I…well….you know…I feel very greatly for you." Grace was beginning to look confused, her brow creasing slightly and her mouth frowning a bit as she tried to figure out what he was babbling about. "The only way I can think of to keep my promise…umm…is…well…" Never, until he met Grace, had Draco Malfoy been so lost for words.

"You know…whatever it is…you can just say it." Grace said. "It's cute, seeing you so nervous and all, but it's confusing me." Draco laughed slightly, looking down for a moment. Grace smiled at him.

"Alright then…I'll just say it." Draco said. He took something from his pocket. Grace's smile dropped and her eyes widened as she looked down at his hands. "Grace Turner…will you marry me?" Her mouth hung open as she tried to say something. She blinked numerous times, wondering if what she was seeing was true as Draco opened the little velvet box to reveal an absolutely stunning ring. The band was gold and in the shape of a snake (quite Slytherin). It looked as if the eyes were tiny little diamonds. Between the head and the tail rested three actual diamonds. The two outer ones were shaped as usual ones but the middle was cut to the shape of a heart.

"Oh my…" Grace muttered. She stared for long minutes. The longer she stared, the more unsure Draco became. He had expected some sort of instantaneous answer but instead he got a fish-out-of-water expression.

"Umm…you kinda have to say something." Draco said.

"I'm trying." Grace said. She looked at Draco and knew that this man she could love for a very long time. While her trust was broken years ago by her father, Draco was the one person she was able to count on for just about anything. He was the man that didn't stop until he had her trust, her friendship…her love. In a second she had moved to straddle his lap and put her hands on either side of his head before kissing him.

"I take that as a yes then?" Draco asked, pulling away just slightly.

"Yes! A hundred times yes!" Grace said. Draco pulled back a bit more in order to remove the ring from the box and slide it onto her finger. Then the box was discarded and they were kissing once again. Grace made Draco lie down, still with her lips attached to his. Her hands had his shirt open within seconds. Draco grabbed her wrists and pulled away enough to look at her, his head pressing deeply into the pillow.

"You know what you're doing?" He asked.

"Uh huh." Grace said, after a moment of thought and nodding. She kissed him again. Draco turned them around. He ran a hand up the length of her leg, pushing the hem of the negligee up. It was off in a matter of seconds and Grace groaned as his mouth trailed over her revealed body. She froze for a second but it was enough to make him stop and look at her.

"Are you ok?" Draco asked, softly.

"Yeah just…remembering." Grace said.

"Did any…" Draco started.

"A few." Grace said. He knew that she knew what he wanted to ask. He bit his lip lightly, now worrying about her reactions. "I trust you, Draco."

"How about we work on making you forget what happened?" Draco said, smirking. Grace laughed.

Part one of the mission was accomplished…on to part two.

(((A/N: It takes me a while to write up this stuff and I really want to get this chapter posted so I'm gonna let your imaginations go wild.)))

They returned to Hogwarts on Sunday afternoon. Grace ran off once they dropped their stuff in their room. Draco already knew what she was up to. There was no way she was going to wait to show Hermione and Ginny. He was glad about that too because he didn't want to put up with the squeals the excited girls were bound to issue.

He had other things to think about, like his mother's reaction to everything. Not only the fact that she somehow knew what Draco and Grace had been up to for the majority of his birthday night, but also the fact that she was very much against his decision.

"Hey Grace, when did you guys get back?" Harry asked, watching as his friend entered the Gryffindor common room.

"About half an hour ago." Grace said. "I dropped my stuff off and went looking for the girls. Do you know where they are?"

"Up in the dorm." Harry said, nodding up the girls' staircase.

"Thanks." Grace said, bounding up the stairs. Harry looked over at Ron.

"Think he did it then?" He asked.

"Definitely." Ron said. "There's nothing else that could have happened to make her this happy." He looked up as he heard a door close at the top of the stairs. "Let's get out before they start squealing."

"Deal." Harry said, closing his books. The two left the common room and headed for Grace and Draco's room.

"Oh my god it's gorgeous!!" Hermione said, practically yanking Grace's arm out of the socket as she grabbed hold of the other girl's hand and pulled it closer to look at the ring.

"I know!" Grace said. "Did you guys know he was going to propose?"

"No, we honestly didn't." Ginny said.

"But I'm thinking Harry and Ron did." Hermione said. "And for once they managed to keep it secret."

"What did his mom say?" Ginny asked.

"I didn't see her today." Grace said. "I woke up late because we were up late…umm…" Her face went red.

"OH MY GOD YOU SLEPT WITH HIM!!" Hermione said. Grace was very glad the rest of the seventh year girls were not around. Ginny was bouncing on Lavender's bed, clapping.

"About time!" She said. "Dear Merlin I thought you guys were never gonna do it."

"How was it?" Hermione asked. Grace raised an eyebrow. "Well everyone wants to know if the rumours about Draco being the Slytherin sex god are true."

"Oh my god!" Grace said, going even redder and hiding her face in one hand. Hermione still held the other.

"They are true!" The other two girls said, laughing. Grace laughed as well.

"You two are hopeless." She said.

"Knock, knock." Harry said. He had knocked on the door and Draco had opened up to find the two Gryffindors on the other side. He rolled his eyes and stood back to let them in. "So…anything interesting happen this weekend?"

"Yeah…Sekhmet scared the house elves." Draco said, resuming his seat in the chair. Harry and Ron sat on the couch.

"I meant with Grace." Harry said. Draco smiled.

"So you did it then." Ron said. The blonde nodded. "Way to go!"

"You know what this means though." Harry said. The other two raised their eyebrows. "Ginny and Hermione are gonna be pressuring us now."

"Oh…" Ron said. "Bad Malfoy…what were you thinking?"

"You're hopeless, Weasley." Draco said, laughing. "You really are." Harry narrowed his eyes at him. It wasn't long before Draco felt the not unfamiliar look. He looked over at Harry. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Thought you figured it out already." Draco said. "Proposed to Grace, she said yes…then personal stuff happened."

"Yeah…figured that part out." Harry said. He leaned forward. "But with the way you looked when you answered the door…"

"My mum threw a fit." Draco said. "It's not a big…"

"Don't say that." Harry said. "It is a big deal. If she throws a fit over it, then it means she doesn't like Grace."

"Your point?" Draco asked, even though he knew what it was.

"How you're one of the smartest people in our year, I'll never know." Harry said.

"Well explain it for me then because I don't see the point." Ron said.

"It wouldn't be that hard for Mrs. Malfoy to grab a bunch of ex Death Eaters that managed to get away and then have something done to Grace." Harry said.

"She wouldn't!" Ron said, eyes wide.

"She would." Draco muttered. "She didn't want me to do it. She…" There was quiet for a while.

"Are you scared?" Harry asked, finally.

"Yeah." Draco admitted. "She's got a lot of influence. She doesn't need ex Death Eaters to do anything."

"Why doesn't she like Grace? I thought they got along a bit on Christmas." Ron said.

"Grace refuses to answer some questions mum's been asking." Draco said. "The main ones are about my dad. It's a good thing I was either with one or the other on my birthday because then I didn't give mum a chance to get Grace alone and try to interrogate her or something."

"You gonna tell Grace about this?" Ron asked.

"No." Draco said. "And neither are you two alright? I don't want her to worry."

"Draco…" Harry said.

"If things get bad then she can know but for right now don't say anything." Draco said. "Not to Grace, not to Hermione or Ginny…nothing to no one." Harry sighed then nodded. Ron nodded as well and it wasn't a moment too soon because a few seconds later Grace walked into the room and announced that Ginny and Hermione wanted to talk to Harry and Ron about some 'relationship' stuff. Shooting Draco glares, the two boys left.

"What was that about?" Grace asked.

"Because you told the girls about me proposing…the guys are afraid they'll be pressuring them to do the same." Draco said. Grace laughed.

* * *

Ok so looky there…foreshadowing. I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner, I promise. 


	25. Snape's Declaration

**Snape's Declaration**

So one of my anticipated moments. Snape finding out. Lol, this should be amusing.

* * *

On Monday Grace seemed a bit anxious. Draco couldn't figure out why. Every time he saw the ring on her finger, he would smile. She had only taken it off while showering and then it was right back on again. He didn't get the chance to ask her anything because they had separated at the Great Hall since Hermione had dragged Grace over to the Gryffindor table to show the other girls her ring. He didn't have any classes with her until the afternoon.

Of course, it didn't take that long for him to figure out what had his fiancé in a slight worry. Half way through second period, he got dragged into Snape's office and he finally figured it out.

"I've heard things, Draco." Snape said. "Things that involve you, Grace…and a ring on a certain finger."

"Uh huh…" Draco said.

"Didn't I tell you to be careful?" Snape asked.

"It's not like I planned this whole thing." Draco said. "I only came up with the idea on Thursday."

"Draco you…" Snape started.

"With all due respect professor…" Draco said. "There's really nothing you can say to make me take it back." Snape gazed at the younger man for a long time. Draco held his eye steadily. Neither would back down from this.

"You may go back to class." Snape said. Draco got up and left, knowing this wasn't over.

Grace was surrounded by the Gryffindor girls at lunch time so there was really no way to talk to her then. Draco sat with Blaise at the Slytherin table. He looked at the other boy and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Draco asked.

"Oh nothing." Blaise said.

"Liar." Draco said.

"News spreads quickly." Blaise said. "You proposed to Gracie." Draco just nodded. "So am I to understand that the two of you finally…"

"If you shut up, I'll tell you what happened." Draco said. Blaise smirked. Draco spent the rest of lunch telling him some of the events on his birthday. They met up with Grace, Hermione, Harry and Ron outside of Defense class.

"Let's see then." Blaise said, taking Grace's hand from Ron and looking at the ring. "Wow…good pick Drake." Grace giggled and pulled her hand from Blaise as Snape rounded the corner. She slid her hand behind her back casually, not sure of how Snape would react to this and decided against causing a scene in the hallway.

"Do none of you realize that the door is usually unlocked?" Snape asked, walking between the teens and opening the door easily. The class stood outside the room, looking stumped.

"I told you." Grace said, hitting Ron's shoulder.

"Ow!" Ron said. Grace led everyone into the classroom. She sat down and Draco and Blaise sat either side of her as usual. The class went on as usual…not! Draco was deciding to be mean and he was on the right side of Grace to do it. He had his hand on her leg the entire class and more then once she had made a move to dislodge it without drawing attention but every time Snape would look at them and she had to settle for glaring at her fiancé while he just smirked and took down the note.

"Grace." Snape said, as the class filed out. She stopped. "Mr. Malfoy, you may continue on to your next class."

"Uh…alright." Draco said. Grace watched him leave then approached Snape's desk.

"You'd be amazed at quickly things spread in this school." Snape said, taking hold of her hand and examining the ring on her finger. The longer he remained silent, the more uncomfortable Grace got. She chewed on her lower lip as she watched his face for any sign of any emotion. Snape technically was considered her guardian now, even though she was over the age of maturity and she felt as if she should have his approval of this.

"Don't you have a class?" Grace asked, hoping for some form of distraction. Snape lifted his eyes from the ring to her face. Grace shifted from one foot to the other. "I…I have potions to get to and…umm…"

"I'm sure your partner can deal without you for a few minutes." Snape said. He let go of her hand and sat back in his chair. Grace chewed her bottom lip. There was silence that lasted a few minutes in which Snape was calm and Grace fidgeted more and more. "Are you quite sure you know what you're doing?"

"Huh?" Grace asked, lifting her eyes from the desk to the professor. "Why are you acting like this? You're the one that put us together in the first place. Neither of us really planned to feel this way, I definitely didn't. But it happened."

"Undoubtedly." Snape said.

"Oh so it's ok when we're just together but when we're engaged it's…I don't think this is about me and Draco is it." Grace said, suddenly thinking of something. "I think maybe this is more about you and a certain red head that was the mother of one of my friends." She crossed her arms. Snape went completely still. "There are a lot of differences. I have to go to potions." She didn't even wait for him to dismiss her or anything, just turned and left.

Potions class was widely uneventful. They had made a few potions already by now and Grace was beginning to get bored. It didn't seem too challenging to her anymore. Draco and Blaise told her not to complain because if she got harder stuff then so when they, as her partners for the year. She had to settle for just instructing them.

"I don't like having Snape against this." Grace said, curled up on the couch later that night. Draco had her feet on his lap and he held a book up to his face. He just made a noise in response. "Draco I'm serious here. He's like…my father or uncle or something now. I don't want him against this."

"He won't stay against it." Draco said, not taking his eyes off the book. Grace tilted her head and tried to see the cover but she couldn't make out the title.

"What are you reading?" She asked.

"Just a book." Draco said.

"Yeah…but what's the book called?" Grace asked. Draco didn't reply. "Draco." He bit the inside of his lip to stop from smiling. Grace reached for the book and he held it away from her. "Let me see!"

"Who should I?" Draco asked. Grace leaned across him, stretching for the book. This time Draco did smile as she knocked him onto his back and climbed on top of him to grab the book. He dropped it and grabbed hold of her wrist. Grace looked down at him.

"Sneaky buggery jerk." She said.

"Hmm…maybe." Draco said. "But I got what I wanted." Grace shook her head and pulled her arm out of his hold before crossing her arms over his chest and resting her chin on them. "So…when do you want to do this?" He tapped the ring on Grace's finger.

"Hmm…I don't know." Grace said, turning her head so that her cheek was on her arms. "After graduating, that's for sure."

"Mmhmm." Draco said, nodding. He ran a hand through Grace's hair. She yawned. "Tired?"

"Yeah." Grace said.

"I doubt Snape will give you a hard time if you haven't gotten the homework done." Draco said, looking over at the Defense homework that sat on the table. Grace made a noise and nodded slightly. "Alright, let's get you to bed." It took a while to get Grace up but they finally managed it into their bedroom.

Draco was partially right about Snape. The professor didn't give Grace a hard time about anything…he didn't even talk her. He practically seemed to ignore her. Hermione and Draco were the only ones that really noticed it however.

"What happened?" Hermione asked. "One day Snape acts as if you're his favourite person and next he's ignoring you." Grace looked from her to the others.

"We'll catch up." She said. Harry, Ron and Draco nodded then continued on. "He's not happy about the engagement."

"Well that's odd." Hermione said. Grace nodded. "Maybe it's just a big shock."

"Hopefully." Grace said. "I don't want him to be against it. He's like the only parent I have now." Hermione nodded. They caught up to the boys outside of the Great Hall. Grace wasn't very hungry so she went and sat with Draco at the Slytherin table. Hermione and Ginny took her away after they finished eating.

"Is she ok?" Blaise asked.

"Snape was ignoring her during Defense class." Draco said. "Grace doesn't like that he doesn't think the engagement is a good idea."

"Oh." Blaise said. He looked down at Draco's plate. "And you're mad about it and taking it out on the beef."

"Yeah I…what?" Draco asked. He looked down to see that the food he hadn't really touched all during the meal had been mutilated. He put his knife and fork down and sighed. "What the bloody hell am I gonna do?"

"Do you know why Snape doesn't like the idea?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah but it makes no sense to me." Draco said.

"Well…try making him see reason." Blaise said. "You're so obviously the best thing in Gracie's life since…well, probably before she was captured. She's practically Snape's adopted child. All parents want their kids to be happy."

"Yeah…I guess." Draco said. "I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

Well let's see…should we keep the happy or bring on the evil?? Decisions, decisions. 


	26. Memories

**Memories**

Snape's gonna learn his lesson soon. Especially since Draco has to save Grace's life again…umm…pretend you didn't read that.

* * *

Grace bit her lip and stared down at the paper in front of her. She knew he was doing this on purpose because of her decisions but did he have to be this mean about it??

"Are you trying to make the parchment catch fire?" Blaise asked, leaning a bit closer to her. He looked at her stuff. "I thought you were getting a revised version."

"What?" Grace asked, looking up.

"This is the same stuff we all have." Blaise said, showing her his stuff. Grace's jaw dropped as she looked between the two sets of study guides. They were the same. She looked over at Draco's…exactly the same as well. She looked up at Snape who sat at his desk, his attention on his own paperwork. What the hell??? "Damn…you guys better figure out a way to fix this soon."

"Huh?" Draco asked, looking up.

"Snape didn't give Grace an easier set." Blaise said. "She's got what we have."

"What?" Draco asked, snatching her sheets. "What the bloody hell?!"

"Don't worry about it." Grace said.

"He can't do this." Draco said.

"Draco, don't worry." Grace said.

"Why not?" Draco asked.

"I'll talk to him about it." Grace said.

"You'll talk to him? The two of you haven't spoken since he cornered you about the engagement." Draco said. "And that was almost a bloody month ago."

"He's got a point." Blaise said.

"So I'll cave first." Grace said. "Big deal."

"No…you don't do that." Draco said. Grace looked at him. "That's almost like admitting he's right."

"Well…" Grace said. "Maybe…" Draco's eyes hardened and Grace dropped her eyes to the desk. He instantly felt bad about his behaviour and opened his mouth to say something but the bell rang at that moment. Grace snatched her guide from him and left before any words could escape his mouth. He had no way of talking with her during potions because Slughorn had mixed up the partners and Grace was now with Harry. She avoided him for the rest of the day as much as she had been avoiding Snape for the last month.

"You can't keep it up Grace. I mean…you sleep in the same room and everything with him." Hermione said. "I guess you could always stay here but I'm pretty sure Draco knows where the entrance is and I doubt anyone will be happy if he's banging on the portrait."

"I don't care." Grace said, tightening her arms around herself. "He shouldn't have done that."

"I know he shouldn't have but…" Hermione said.

"There's no 'buts', Mione." Grace said.

"Well…" Hermione started. The portrait door swung open and Harry and Ron walked into the common room.

"Zambini's outside." Harry said. "Says he's got some message for Grace from Malfoy."

"It's Blaise…not Draco…go talk to him." Hermione said. Grace sighed. She knew she wasn't going to win against Hermione so she got up and headed out the hole. Harry and Ron quickly closed it behind her. One look at the person in front of her and Grace turned around to face an empty portrait.

The fat lady was out for the time being.

"POTTER I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!" Grace yelled through the picture.

"Talk to him!!" She heard Harry yell back. Glaring at nothing, Grace turned around to look at Draco who was leaning against the wall on the other side of the hallway.

"See now, if the hat had put you in Slytherin…it might have been a bit easier to hide." Draco said. "Don't have to wait for some portrait occupant to come back and let you in."

"If I had been put in Slytherin then it so would not have been easier to hide." Grace said, crossing her arms.

"Well I wouldn't have looked there anytime soon." Draco said. "Most of the people you know and are friends with at this place are in Gryffindor. So there's really only about three or four places that I need to look in order to find you."

"Well congratulations to you." Grace said. She looked back at the portrait. The fat lady hadn't returned.

"She's not coming back anytime soon." Draco said. "Potter and Weasley asked a favor…and used a spell." Grace rolled her eyes.

"Well there's something most of this school never thought would happen." She said. "Harry and Ron helping you get something." Draco shrugged. "What do you want?"

"Thought it was obvious." Draco said. "Look, I'm sorry for what I did. It's just…I really do wanna be with you and then hearing you almost agree with Snape…just made it feel like you didn't want to be with me." Grace let her arms drop to her sides. "As you can tell…really can't handle any form of rejection too well."

"Damn it!!" Grace said. "I want to stay mad at you but…damn it, Draco Malfoy, you are impossible!!" Draco smirked as she walked across the hall and hugged him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"I'm sorry." Draco said.

"Me too." Grace said. They heard the portrait open and looked over at it.

"All good?" Ron asked.

"Yeah…all good." Grace said.

"Good then…see you two later." Ron said, closing the door quickly again.

"So what are we going to do about Snape then?" Grace asked. They started walking to their room.

"We'll think of something." Draco said. Grace looked down and watched as they stepped in sync with each other. She was quiet. It wasn't unusually but Draco felt as if there was something wrong. "What's up?"

"Umm…what are we going to do…about your mom?" Grace asked. Draco stopped walking and, since his arm was around Grace, she stopped as well.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Grace bit her lip. "Grace…"

"I…kinda…saw the letter she wrote you." Grace said.

"Oh…" Draco said.

"I didn't mean to but it was there and…" Grace said. "I don't know. She seems less thrilled about this then Snape."

"Less thrilled?" Draco asked.

"Ok so she practically forbid you from going through with it." Grace said. Draco's face remained expressionless. She hated when he did that because it made her worry. "Can you please show some kind of expression?"

"I'm just thinking." Draco said. "There has to be a way around this. Everyone disapproves."

"Well…only the adults." Grace said. They started walking again. "Well…we already know that we're not going to do the wedding until after graduation. Maybe Snape will be fine then. Maybe, with him, it's just an age thing. Like…he thinks we're too young or something."

"Do you really think that's it?" Draco asked.

"No, but it was worth a shot." Grace said, shrugging.

"You know the real reason why he doesn't like this." Draco said.

"Yeah…kinda." Grace said. "But it makes no sense. It's not as if we're gonna make the same mistake he did."

"What was that mistake?" Draco asked.

"Umm…I can't tell you. It's way too personal." Grace said. Draco wanted to say something but decided against it.

"Just because Easter holidays are in only a few days that does not mean that you are able to 'slack off'." McGonagall said. There were numerous groans throughout the classroom. "Many of you have lost your concentration and therefore are unable to perform the proper transfiguration spell." She looked pointedly at Ron who went red and dropped his eyes to his desk. Grace giggled. She hadn't been doing all that well herself but at least she was trying and not allowing her attention to wander. She looked over at Hermione who was glaring slightly at her boyfriend. The girl had missed half a year but was already caught up and even going ahead of the other people in the class.

"How the hell do you do that?" Grace asked as she walked with Hermione to their next class afterwards.

"Do what?" Hermione asked.

"Catch up and then get ahead of everyone and you missed half of the year!" Grace said. "Bloody hell…no wonder Ron has such the inferiority complex."

"He does not." Hermione said. "Well…maybe just a small one." She looked around the hall. "So what are you doing for the holiday?"

"I don't know. I think we're staying here." Grace said.

"Well Harry, Ron and I are going to Ron's house." Hermione said. "You can come too you know."

"I think I'll pass." Grace said. "I already have Snape and Mrs. Malfoy to deal with about the engagement. I don't need Ron's mum harping at me."

"I don't think…you're probably right." Hermione said, thinking about it. Grace smirked and nodded.

"The memory charm." Flitwick announced once everyone had been seated. Grace looked a bit nervous. "We shall learn the proper technique and then we shall perform it in partners."

"What is it supposed to do?" Someone asked.

"It is meant to recall a memory." Flitwick said. "It's not always used because it won't recall anything specific. Whatever seems to be hidden most will be brought forward. The person casting the spell will be thrown into the memory."

"Almost like a pensieve." Harry said.

"Precisely Mr. Potter." Flitwick said. "Now…we will try the spell without the wands. Repeat after me…memordium."

"Memordium." The class echoed.

"Good…now we'll try waving our wands correctly." Flitwick said, pulling out his own. Grace seemed quite hesitant at this point as she did as the professor did. He went through the class correcting those who needed it, then everyone got into pairs.

"Do you want to go first?" Ron asked. He hadn't done any pairing with Grace since back when they were trying to teach her how to defend herself against Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

"As in me doing the spell first?" Grace asked. Ron nodded. "Umm…alright." She raised her wand and Ron flinched.

"Sorry…habit." He said. Grace smiled slightly. "Alright…go for it."

"Ok…memordium!" Grace said, waving her wand. The classroom vanished and she and Ron stood in his house, a little child version of Ron crying as he stuck his tongue out with a hole in it. Mrs. Weasley was scolding one of the twins for giving him an acid pop.

"Oh bloody hell, I wanted to forget that." Ron said, once they returned to the classroom, mentally. Grace's smile grew a bit. "It's not funny. It bloody well hurt."

"Well that'll teach ya to accept things from Fred or George." Grace said.

"Well now it's my turn." Ron said. Grace's face went blank. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah…fine." Grace said. Ron raised a questioning eyebrow. "Go ahead."

"Ok…if you're sure." Ron said. He waved his wand. "Memordium!" He expected a few things to happen…but he didn't except to see Lucius Malfoy torturing Grace. He had never really seen anyone be tortured so this was a shock. He looked from the vision Grace to the real one. The old frightened look back in place as she watched herself get thrown by the elder Malfoy. Ron looked around, trying to figure out a way out. Grace let out a whimpering like noise before dropping to the ground. The classroom materialized around them and everyone was looking at them. Grace had herself almost instantly in such a state of panic that she freaked when Hermione stepped towards her to help.

"What did you do?" Harry asked, looking at Ron.

"I just did the charm!" Ron said, looking freaked.

"What class does Malfoy have?" Harry asked.

"Umm…History of Magic." Hermione said.

"Get him." Harry said. Hermione ran off. She came back ten minutes later, out of breath, with Draco right behind her. Grace had put herself in a corner.

"What the bloody hell did you do?" Draco asked, looking at Ron.

"I didn't do anything!!" Ron said. "She freaked because the charm brought up a memory of your dad."

"Oh bugger." Draco said, crossing the room to his fiancé. He lightly touched her arm and she yelled, slapping him. It took a bit a time for her to realize that it wasn't Lucius in front of her and when she did realize that, she threw her arms around Draco's neck and apologized for hitting him.

"That happened on a daily basis?" Ron asked, once Grace had calmed down enough. She looked at him and nodded. "Bloody hell, how on Earth did you manage to survive that?" She shrugged. The classroom was empty apart from Grace, Draco, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Flitwick.

"Are you alright now, Miss Turner?" Flitwick asked. "Should you be brought to the hospital wing?"

"I'm ok." Grace said. Draco helped her up. After making sure she was completely alright, they left the classroom and headed to the Great Hall for lunch. Grace didn't eat too much and decided to skip out of Defense and Potions classes and just sit in her room.

* * *

Hmm…dunno what to write here. So…review!! 


	27. Where Do We Go

**Where Do We Go?**

Oh man, I'm sorry it took me practically a year to update this. Don't hurt me please, here's the awaited update.

* * *

"Potter, Weasleys, Granger." Draco yelled, running up to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny before they entered their common room. They all stopped and looked at him. "Where's Grace?"

"I thought she was in your room." Hermione said. "She skipped out of afternoon classes after what happened in charms."

"Well she's not there." Draco said.

"I'll see if she's in here." Ginny said, climbing through the portrait hole. Hermione watched, a bit surprised, as Draco seemed to fidget slightly. Ginny came back and shook her head. "Damn it, where the hell could she be?"

"Well she wasn't at the great hall." Ron said.

"We'll check the library. Malfoy, check the Slytherin common room, maybe she's there for some reason." Harry said.

"We'll meet at the entrance hall in half an hour." Hermione said. Everyone nodded. The four Gryffindors headed to the library while Draco headed down to his old common room.

"Whoa, what's wrong with you?" Blaise asked, watching his friend rush frantically through the entrance to the common room.

"I can't find Grace." Draco said.

"What makes you think she'd be here?" Blaise asked.

"I don't know but it's possible." Draco said.

"True enough." Blaise said. "I haven't seen her. You check the grounds yet?"

"No." Draco said. "I went to our room and she wasn't anywhere in there. So I went to the Gryffindor place and caught Potter and them. They haven't seen her since her panic in charms."

"What happened?" Blaise asked.

"Weasley did the memory charm and it brought back a memory of my dad torturing her." Draco said, bitterly. "She said she was going straight to the room instead of lunch and didn't feel like going to afternoon classes."

"Ask Snape." Blaise said. Draco frowned. "Hey man, it's better then nothing. Besides, she might even be there talking…" Draco was back out the entrance before Blaise could even finish. He practically ran to Snape's office and just barely remembered to knock before bursting in. The professor lifted an eyebrow at the abrupt intrusion.

"Can I help you, Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked.

"Have you seen Grace today?" Draco asked.

"No." Snape said. He looked back down at his papers. "She has refused to attend my class for some time now, I'm sure you noticed that. Would you kindly pass along that if she continues like that, she should not expect to pass."

"Well see I would…if I could bloody well find her." Draco said. The only reaction that he received from the professor was a halt to all movement. "No one's seen her since she headed to our room at lunch time. Before that she had charms class and Weasley did the memory charm on her." Snape slowly lifted his eyes to Draco. The young blonde stared right back at the professor and answered the unasked question. "It was my father torturing her." Snape rose so abruptly that his chair fell over.

Ten minutes later they were down at the entrance hall, listening to how to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny couldn't find Grace and everyone they asked had no clue where she could be. They had little options. Snape went to talk to McGonagall and within minutes the whole school was getting searched, as were the grounds, even the forbidden forest. Members of the Order had been called in and were searching through Hogsmeade. None of it made sense. Where the hell could Grace have gone without telling anyone, especially Draco? Also, why in the world would she have gone anywhere by herself? Sure, she was getting more comfortable but that didn't mean she enjoyed being alone.

He down right refused to believe that something bad had happened to her. He'd rather believe that she had had an idiot moment then believe the worst possible thing.

Everyone got back together after nearly two hours of searching with no results. Things had simply gone from bad to disastrous, skipping everything in between, in only a few hours.

"Never should have left her alone." Draco muttered.

"You wouldn't have known." Hermione said, trying to reassure him any way possible.

"Where could she be?" Draco asked, looking at everyone around him. No one said anything for several long minutes until Snape stood up and grabbed Draco. "What…where are we going?"

"To see your mother." Snape said. They stopped off at Snape's office so that he could grab a few things, then they made their way off the grounds to apparate to the Malfoy Estate.

"Draco…Severus…what are you two doing here?" Narcissa asked, looking thoroughly surprised when her son and the professor burst into the room she was sitting in.

"Thought we'd stop by, pay a visit." Draco said, keeping himself relatively calm. "You haven't by any chance, seen Grace at all have you?"

"No." Narcissa said, coldly. She looked at the disbelieving looks she received from the two men. "I may dislike the girl and wish to Merlin that my son snaps out of his infatuation with her but I can assure both of you that I have kept my distance."

"Well if you didn't do anything to her then…who did?" Draco asked, frowning.

The search spread out even further but no matter where they looked or who they interrogated, they couldn't find Grace. Days went by, then months, then Draco, Harry, Ron and Hermione were graduating. Still, there was no sign of Grace. Draco put himself into a sort of shell, reverting to his cold, unemotional self. The searches eventually died down. After five months, they gave up. After school, Harry, Ron and Hermione rarely saw Draco. The only times they did see him were for the times they had scheduled a few weeks ahead. Even in those times he still acted as his old self and so the meetings were put further apart.

They were surprised when Draco showed up for Ginny's graduation. With the way he had been acting, they were almost certain he wouldn't have cared, but there he was, proving them wrong. He congratulated Ginny and shared a few words with everyone before he began a quiet conversation with Snape. It was hard to tell what they were talking about so no one bothered to try.

Knowing how those two had been acting for the last year, chances were it was something to do with Grace.

* * *

Ok so the next chapter will be the last one, I want to wrap up this story now. But I still haven't figured out which of three endings I've decided on.


	28. Beauty from Pain

**Beauty from Pain**

Well I'm sure people are going to be mad at me but really, how often do I get to do something like this? I rarely do something like this, sure I separate people a lot but I've only ever done…this sort of thing once.

This song in this chapter is Beauty From Pain by Superchick. It's a very lovely song and I think it fits great with out Draco feels.

* * *

Draco stared at the dying flames licking at the burned up logs in the fireplace. His eyes drifted over to the person who was fast asleep on the couch, her bushy brown hair falling all over her face. A slightly rounded stomach was displayed through the somewhat tight shirt she wore. She was supposed to be there to help but she had been sleeping for the most part, catching up on what she lost the previous night. Draco really did have to remember to thank Weasley later for letting his fiancée stick around and help him out a bit with…

Think of the devils and they cry for attention.

_The lights go out all around me__  
__One last candle to keep out the night__  
__And then the darkness surrounds me__  
__I know I'm alive but I feel like I've died_

With a deep sigh, Draco lifted himself from his chair and walked across the room to where the soft noise came from. This was why he needed Hermione over, being previously unable to deal with the nighttime troubles. He put his hand against the solid wood door separating him from the two little things on the other side that he would have to deal with in a minute. As carefully and quietly as possible, he pushed open the door and stood for a moment, stunned at how the simple scene before him could bring such pain and the feeling of loss. It was all top similar to the first time he had ever done this, and that had not been a good time.

"Merlin help me." Draco muttered. He sighed again before stepping into the room even as the memories rushed painfully back into his head.

_And all that's left is to accept that it's over__  
__My dreams ran like sand through the fists that I made__  
__I try to keep warm but I just grow colder__  
__I feel like I'm slipping away_

_**Flashback**_

He walked into his apartment, slamming the door behind him, making Sekhmet hiss at him but he ignored the cat. The slamming and the hissing didn't affect him anymore, it was a daily thing now. His job was driving him crazy and his coworkers…dear Merlin he just wanted to kill those people sometimes. But there was something else. Something that he just couldn't figure out, or didn't want to.

He threw his coat onto the chair by the door then froze, seeing light across the floor. Draco turned his gaze over to the kitchen where the light was on. Frowning, for he was positive that he hadn't left it on himself, he slowly walked towards the kitchen, pulling his wand from his back pocket. He got to the door and held his wand at the ready, pausing slightly to think of the best curse to use on his intruder.

"Draco…" A familiar voice gasped. He froze again before standing in the doorway to see his mother halfway between sitting and standing at the island in the middle of the kitchen. "It's okay, it's just me." Her calm voice irritated the hell out of him but he did lower his wand. His jaw, however, remained clenched, clearing showing that he wasn't happy with this visit. He hadn't seen his mother since Grace had disappeared.

"What do you want?" Draco managed to say between clenched teeth. Narcissa's composure faltered slightly then returned. She was going to do this, she had to.

"Don't hate me for this. There was nothing I could've done to prevent any of it." Narcissa warned.

"Spit it out." Draco said, losing what little patience he had left.

**_After all this has passed, I still will remain_**_**  
**_**_After I've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain_**_**  
**_**_Though it won't be today..._**

"Your father has escaped Azkaban and he's going to go after Grace." Narcissa said, slowly. Draco froze on his journey to the fridge. He slowly turned to look at his mother, the woman he once had nearly killed Dumbledore for. "I can tell you where to find her just-"

**_...Someday I'll hope again_**_**  
**_**_And there'll be beauty from pain_**_**  
**_**_You will bring beauty from my pain_**

"You know where she is?" Draco cut her off, all his anger from the past year bursting to the front. Narcissa nodded slowly. "How long have you known this? Did you know when I asked you? Why tell me now? What happened?" His mother stared at him for a moment before choosing to answer the last question.

"Death Eaters, those who escaped imprisonment but still remain loyal to the name of the Dark Lord, they took her." Narcissa said. "They've locked her back up again…doing to her what they used to do." Draco's fingers curled into fists, the short nails digging into the flesh of his palms. He found himself shaking with suppressed rage. He couldn't just blow, he needed more information. "Lucius will find her if he hasn't already."

**_My whole world is the pain inside me_**_**  
**_**_The best I can do is just get through the day_**_**  
**_**_When life before is only a memory_**_**  
**_**_I'll wonder why God lets me walk through this place_**

"Why do you even care?" Draco asked, irritated beyond belief. He still couldn't believe that his mother, his goddamn mother of all people, could have kept something like this from him. Even if she didn't approve of Draco wanting to marry Grace, this was just low for her. "You finally get over that superiority complex of yours?"

"I still do not approve of her." Narcissa said, in her pure blooded proud voice. "There is something else I'm worried about." Draco raised a brow at that. He decided not to ask and get to the main issue.

"Where…is she?" Draco asked, his teeth still clenched so tight he thought they might break.

"You know." Narcissa said, involuntarily wincing.

**_And though I can't understand why this happened_**_**  
**_**_I know that I will when I look back someday_**_**  
**_**_And see how you've brought beauty from ashes_**_**  
**_**_And made me as gold purified through these flames_**

Draco stared at her for a moment before it dawned on him and he apparated into the familiar halls of his old corner at the Death Eater hideout. He ran to door of Grace's old room and blasted it open.

Empty.

"Damn it…Grace, help me out here." Draco muttered. As if to answer his command, a loud yell ran through the halls and Draco took off in the direction that it came. The yelling continued and the words became clearer, the closer he got to his old room.

"No! I won't let you near them!"

"Foolish girl, will you never learn?"

"I learned well enough."

Draco threw open the door to his old room and the sight in front of him was something that would haunt his dreams for a long time. There was a bit of familiarity to it, at least with Grace's appearance. She was sitting in, what Draco guessed to be, the broken pieces of a bed. She was battered and bruised but at least she wasn't in the submissive state that she used to be. Raw determination filled her eyes and for a moment Draco felt a sense of pride towards his girl.

But then he saw more. Saw the blood over the room, two bodies in a corner opposite Grace, his girl also covered in blood and staring at the older, eviler version of Draco.

Lucius Malfoy advanced slowly on the weakening girl; neither him nor his prey seemed to have noticed the sudden arrival of his son. For a moment, Draco couldn't understand why Grace wasn't using any of her elemental strength on Lucius, but then he noticed the green glow of her eyes and the vines stretched up, thick and strong, over the only other door in the room. Her attention was probably on keeping that strong, but for what reason?

**_After all this has passed, I still will remain_**_**  
**_**_After I've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain_**_**  
**_**_Though it won't be today..._**

"Draco…" Grace's voice suddenly broke him out of the temporary distraction he had. Lucius spun around to face his son.

"So…you took the toy away." He said.

"Yeah…ain't I a stinker?" Draco muttered, raising his wand.

"You think to duel with your own father?" Lucius asked. He laughed. "You will surely lose."

**_...Someday I'll hope again_**_**  
**_**_And there'll be beauty from pain_**_**  
**_**_You will bring beauty from my pain_**

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that." Draco said. Grace whimpered and Draco shot a glance in her direction before lunging at Lucius. Father and son fought throughout the room and several times the curses ricocheted towards Grace but she managed to get out of the way fast enough, at least at the start. As the duel drug up, Draco had to alternate firing curses at his father and bouncing them away from Grace. He had to finish this and help her.

"There's only one way for you to win…will you cross that line?" Lucius asked. Draco stared at his father for a moment. He knew what that one way was…the line he had to cross in order to win.

"Yes." Draco said, instantly. He thrust his wand towards Lucius. "Avada Kedavra!" He caught everyone, alive, in the room by surprise that those words were uttered from Draco Malfoy's mouth, towards his father. The green flash lit up the room for a few seconds before it died down, revealing Lucius Malfoy, dead on the floor. Draco stared at his father once more for a few seconds before rushing over to Grace's side. Beneath the blood, she was terribly pale. Her eyes were closed and her chest hardly moved. Draco lost what little colour he had gained in his face as he gingerly put his hand to Grace's cheek. Her eyes fluttered open, green as the vines covering the door.

"Draco." Grace said, quietly.

"Yeah…it's me." Draco said, swallowing a large lump in his throat. "You're gonna be okay Grace." A soft, sad smile crossed over Grace's face as her hand slowly rose to caress Draco's cheek. He put his hand overtop of hers.

"You're here." Grace said, completely ignoring the second thing Draco had said. He let out a sound that was half a laugh, half a sob. Malfoys didn't cry but he sure as hell was letting the tears roll free.

**_Here I am, at the end of me_**_**  
**_**_Tryin to hold to what I can't see_**_**  
**_**_I forgot how to hope_**

"Grace…please…" Draco said. Her thumb moved slightly against his cheek.

"They tried to hurt them." Grace said. "But they're safe…no one touched them."

"What?" Draco asked.

"They're safe." Grace said, again. Draco frowned through his tears. Grace dropped her eyes down to her stomach. With a raised brow, he did the same and carefully wiped blood away. There were marks on her stomach, but not from any fight or torture. "Draco." His eyes snapped back to her face in time to catch her eyes fade from green to blue. The vines over the door fell away. "I'm sorry."

"No…there's nothing to be sorry about." Draco said.

"I'm not…I can't…" Grace tried to find the right words.

"You're gonna be fine…just hang on." Draco said.

**_This night's been so long_**_**  
**_**_I cling to Your promise_**_**  
**_**_There will be a_****_ dawn_**

He created his patronus and watched it fly out the open window. "Not long now…just hang on, please." He looked at her face. That soft sad smile still in place. Eyes filled with pain, sadness and regret, brimming with tears that spilled down her pale, bloodied face. It was then that no matter how much he wanted to deny it, he knew Grace wasn't going to last.

"Keep them safe." Grace said, softly. Draco had no idea what she was talking about. His mind wasn't working properly to try and figure it out either. He held her tightly, but not tightly enough to hurt her more then she was, almost as if he thought this would keep her there.

"Grace…" Draco whispered.

"I love you." Grace said. In the eight months he had known her, she had never said that to him. Draco was undone by it. So soft, so finishing…those three words that could change anything. He leaned down and kissed her softly.

"I will always love you." Draco whispered. Grace's eyes closed and her hand fell from his cheek. The second it hit the floor was the second that Snape had arrived. Draco could feel the professor's presence but he didn't care. He just sat there, holding Grace's lifeless form, staring at her face. He wasn't sure how long he was like that. The only thing he knew was that it was long enough for Snape to get rid of the three other bodies in the room.

Something finally broke it's way into Draco's head. It started softly but soon grew louder. A muffled crying sound from behind the door. Slowly, Draco lifted his head. He carefully lay Grace on the floor and rose to his feet. Snape watched the young man walk across the room and open the door.

"Oh…" Draco said, finally understanding what Grace had meant when she was talking about 'they'.

_**Present**_

He picked up the crying child and held her with her head close to his heart. He went to the other crib and looked down at the snoozing boy. Glad to know he only had to deal with one of them, Draco carried his daughter to the bench in front of the window and sat down, tilting his arm slightly so that the baby could gaze out the window at the falling snow. They would be a year old in another month.

"Better fall asleep real quick." Draco said, looking from the window to his daughter. "Gonna be visiting a lot of people tomorrow. Get your first Christmas Eve." The little baby looked up at him with her mother's blue eyes. For the first two months, it had been hard on Draco to look at his children for too long without being reminded of Grace. Now though, after having them for nearly five months, the pain had dulled down and he very much enjoyed seeing the twins grow and develop, perfect little mixtures of himself and Grace.

**_After all this has passed, I still will remain_**_**  
**_**_After I've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain_**_**  
**_**_Though it won't be today,_**

One day in August changed so much for Draco Malfoy and the woman he had loved and lost. A week before her fifteenth birthday, Grace was taken to be Voldemort's torture toy. Three years later, on the same day, she met Draco and then two years after that, still on the same day, Draco held her as she died.

And that same day, he had met the two people who would become his whole world…his children, the only things he had left to remind him of Grace.

**_Someday I'll hope again_**_**  
**_**_And there'll be beauty from pain_**_**  
**_**_You will bring beauty from my pain_**

Dawn and Aiden Malfoy.

_**The End**_

* * *

Ok so it's a relatively sad ending but it's also happy. Draco gets kids. This was a story that I didn't really intend to have the bright happy cheery stuff in the middle but that's just how I usually end up making things go. I knew if I just killed Grace and left it there then people would want to kill me, so I gave them kids.


	29. Alternate Ending

**Alternate Ending**

Okay so it took me a couple of months but I decided to redeem myself. Also I came up with an alternate sort of story line for this story but I didn't really feel like doing it. So instead I decided to transfer all that to an alternate ending idea.

* * *

Sekhmet meowed and circled around Draco's legs. He looked down at the cat and nudged it lightly, trying to get it away. Normally he didn't care what Sekhmet did but right now he needed to focus on the papers in front of him. Sekhmet meowed again and started pawing at his legs.

"Just a minute." Draco said. The cat kept up its persistence and Draco could feel the tips of its claws against his leg. "Oh alright, what is it?" He stood up and watched Sekhmet trot over to a wall before she stood up and placed her hands on the wall, looking up. Draco followed its gaze to the clock then suddenly swore. How could it be so late and he didn't even notice? Better yet, how come no one was telling him that it was so late?

Okay so the cat was but that's beside the point.

He paused long enough to stare at a picture hanging on the wall. A gorgeous woman and two beautiful children, one boy, one girl, running around within the frame. The children constantly tackling the woman to the floor and laughing. Draco shook his head and went to get dressed.

He couldn't believe this was actually happening. After all this time, it was finally going to happen. He almost expected another disappearing act. Mind you, if that did happen, he knew where he'd look first…

_**Flashback**_

The last place on Earth he ever expected to return to. He couldn't imagine why she'd willingly come here again but then, really, how much choice would she have? Draco walked across the rain soaked yard and blasted the door open. No point in being subtle after all. Another set of footsteps trailed behind him…Snape.

No point in leaving the man out of this. He would more then likely be needed.

"Let's just hope that your anger doesn't give us away too much." Snape muttered.

"They've already done the worse they can do." Draco said.

"Don't be so sure." Snape said. That wasn't something Draco wanted to hear but he didn't think about it. He wanted to end this, one way or another. If she was dead…he didn't want to be around, there was no point. If she wasn't…well then he was killing everyone else there that wasn't her or Snape just to make sure this never ever happened again.

They walked silently down the cold empty hallway, intent on getting to one specific room. Moments before they were to open it, however, a loud scream echoed out from down the hall. The two men looked at each other.

"My room." Draco said. With that, they ran, giving up on stealth since the screaming didn't end. Their pounding footsteps wouldn't be heard over that.

"You know, I much rather enjoy doing this." The cool voice of Lucius Malfoy drifted out along with the screams that had turned to painful groans. Draco's eyes narrowed dangerously as he and Snape rounded the corner to his old room. "You fighting back is so much more enjoyable then you not doing anything at all. It gives an extra sort of boost to…" He was cut off by Snape blasting the door open. Two wands pointed at the blonde haired man.

Draco glanced around at the bloodied room. Vines stretched up and covered a door on the far side from them. Two Death Eater bodies littered the floor between that door and Lucius. The older Malfoy stood over Grace. As battered and bruised as she was, bleeding from several wounds as well, Draco still couldn't help but think of how beautiful she was. He felt a sort of pride for her when he saw the determination in her eyes…her bright green eyes.

Right the vines. Now what were they for?

"Draco!" Grace suddenly shouted. Draco blinked then dove to the side to avoid a curse. It was only then that he realized that Snape had been stunned and Lucius had his wand pointed at his son. Draco also realized that he didn't have his wand now. This was what he got for staring at his girl.

"Don't think I won't do it." Lucius said, advancing on Draco. "I should kill you right now. You deceitful little traitor." Draco glared at Lucius, all of his hate and anger towards his father's actions against everyone, mostly Grace, boiling to the surface. "I think I'll break you first. Make you suffer and wish for death." Lucius waved his wand and Draco felt his arms and legs snap together. He was levitated up against the wall, facing Grace, who stared at him helplessly.

"I'm sorry…" Grace said.

"Time now, to end this." Lucius said, turning his wand on Grace. A bright green light filled the room.

_**Present**_

"Malfoy, snap out of it!" Ron's voice broke through Draco's thoughts. The blonde glared at the red head.

"Weasley I do not appreciate the interruptions." Draco said.

"Well you should, you're gonna miss everything if you don't hurry." Ron said. Draco glanced around, realizing where he was. He was no longer at home but instead at Hogwarts. He barely remembered apparating to Hogsmeade and getting in a carriage.

"Hey! Everyone's getting antsy, let's go already!" Harry said, throwing up the door with one hand while adjusting his tie with the other.

"Keep your knickers on, Potter, I'm coming." Draco said. He led the boys outside. The weather was perfect, warm with a slight cooling breeze. The sun shone brightly.

"About time." Blaise said, watching the three boys move down the make shift aisle towards him.

"Bite me." Draco said.

"That's not my job." Blaise said. "That's theirs." He nodded at the two small children who were currently standing at the edge of the lake, McGonagall holding onto them to keep them from falling in. They would be two soon, in a few more months. It was hard to believe.

Draco couldn't help the smile that made its way to his face as he gazed over at the kids. Blonde haired, blue eyed little rascals. He saw McGonagall say something to them before leading them from the lake. Playful smiles were on their faces as they finally let go of the old woman's hands and bounded their way towards the four men. They instead took Draco's hands, the little girl looking up at him and smiling brightly.

"Time?" The boy asked.

"Yep." Draco said, just as music started and everyone that was there stood up. A very pregnant Hermione led a less pregnant Ginny and a none pregnant Fleur down the aisle towards everyone. Draco felt his hands getting squeezed by the kids as Snape came into view, holding the arm of a woman whose face was covered by a veil. He couldn't be curtain but he was pretty sure she was refraining from laughing. That made Draco smile and shake his head as the children giggled.

Snape released the woman when they reached Draco and he stood off to the side. Behind the veil, Draco could make out a smile.

"You were late." The woman said.

"Oh barely." Draco said. The boy let go of Draco's hand to take the woman's hand, giving Draco the chance to finally lift the veil and reveal Grace's face, her blue eyes sparkling happily as she gazed at him. "You're gorgeous."

"You're still gonna hear about it later." Grace said. Draco rolled his eyes then looked at McGonagall as she began the ceremony.

One day in August changed so much for Draco Malfoy and the woman he loved. A week before her fifteenth birthday, Grace was taken to be Voldemort's torture toy. Three years later, she met Draco. Two years after that, Draco and Snape found her once more and Snape murdered Lucius Malfoy to save her. And one more year later, Draco and Grace stood before each other, each holding a hand of one of their children, and saying their wedding vows.

All on the same day.

_**The (alternate) End**_

* * *

Okay so what do you guys think of this one? Better? I'd think so since so many people actually wanted this. I was given the idea a while ago to do a sequel involving Dawn and Aiden (the twins), as well as the rest of the children (I'd use the same names from the book on those). Basically it would be a sort of return of the Death Eaters sort of thing and perhaps a couple of the kids getting into trouble. I seem to do well with sequels, just not trilogies, lol.

Anyways, if I ever did that, I'd probably go with the original ending where Grace died so that she wouldn't be in the next story. Dawn and Aiden would probably know about the Elemental powers and both of them would probably have two each.


End file.
